LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



.^^ 



>^^^' 



j^M^ 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



V 



LESSONS 



ELOCUTION, 



INCLUDING 



YocAL AND Physical Culture. 



ADAPTED FOR THE 



USE OF PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SCHOOLS. 



By C. dean, 

Teacher of Elocution. 



li^t 



BATTLE CREEK, MICH.: 

REVIfiW AND HERALD STEAM PRESS. 
1882. 



Tfif" 



Copyrighted 1881, by 
C. DEAN. 



PREFA.CE. 



This work is prepared for the purpose of raising 
the standard of reading and speaking in the public 
and private schools. 

Elocution has been neglected more than any one 
branch of education. It has also been misunderstood 
as being a rare accomplishment that was not within 
the reach of every person. It is natural to express 
the thoughts and feelings by the voice. The theory 
of elocution teaches the proper use of the voice, the 
same as grammar teaches the proper arrangement 
of words. God has given us the "plastic material," 
with laws for its use. These laws should commence 
in the school-room. Every pupil should understand 
the ai-t of controlling his breath and vocal organs ; 
but the majority of teachers neglect this important 
branch of education, which is the cause of so many 
defective voices. Habit becomes so fixed in this 
defect that it constitutes second nature; "and close 
analysis becomes necessary that we may draw the 
line between our own nature and this accumulated 
or borrowed nature." The writer of this work does 
not claim any credit for anything of worth which it 
may contain. It is compiled from all the popular 
works on elocution, and arranged in a system to meet 
the wants of schools. C. J). 



TO TEAOHEES. 



Before every reading exercise the class should 
practice development of the chest, and control of the 
breath ; also exercise on the elementaiy sounds. 
Pupils should be required to deliver their words 
properly in speaking as well as in reading. Insist 
on every word being heard distinctly ; avoiding nasal 
tones caused by not raising the soft palate. 

Drill the class to read naturally, as if talking ; 
discouraging affectation and mannerism of any kind. 
For strength of voice, practice loud explosive ex- 
ercises; for distinct enunciation, the whisper; for 
smoothness, the median stress ; for flexibility, rapid 
movement. Ask the following questions before the 
selection is read : What is the style of this selection ? 
Is it pathetic, animated, declamatory or humorous? 
What tones and qualities of voice does it require? 
Does it contain personations, etc.? 



CONTENTS. 



LESSON I. 

Elocution Page 11 

Analysis of words 11 

Simple vocals 11 

Compound vocals 12 

Sub-vocals 12 

Aspirates 12 

Sounds not classified 12 

LESSON II. 

Analysis of voice 13 

Rules for tlie management of tlie breath 13 

Muscular development of tbe chest 13 

LESSON III. 

Chest expansion 14 

Shoulder movements 15 

Development of the lungs 15 

Percussion of the chest 16 

Percussion with arm movement 16 

LESSON IV. 

Exercises in breathing 17 

LESSON V. 

Exercises in breathing. — Continued 17 

LESSON VI. 

Organs of the throat 18 

LESSON VII. 

Tones 20 

Exercises in vocal tones 21 

(7) 



8 CONTENTS. 

LESSON VIII. 

Exercises in consonants 23 

LESSON IX. 

Vowels and consonants 24 

LESSON X. 

Labials 25 

Dentals 25 

Palatals 25 

Nasals 25 

Aspirate 25 

Linguals 25 

LESSON XL 

Articulation 26 

Aspirate consonants 26 

Voice consonants 27 

Difficult double and triple consonants 27 

LESSON XII. 

Difficult combinations 27 

LESSON XIII. 

Recreations in articulation 29 

LESSON XIV. 

Vocal sounds 33 

LESSON XV. 

Articles 35 

Aspirate sounds in plurals 36 

Unaccented vowels 36 

Exercise in pronunciation 37 

LESSON XVI. 

Vocal practice 38 

Orotund voice 38 

LESSON XVII. 

Quality of pure and orotund voice 40 

Pitch 40 

Gamut for varying the pitch of the speaking voice 40 

Force , 42 

Stress 42 



CONTENTS. 9 

LESSON XVIII. 

Radical stress 42 

LESSON XIX. 

Medium stress 44 

Vanishing stress 44 

LESSON XX. 

Derivative forms of stress 45 

Thorough stress 45 

LESSON XXI. 

Compound stress 46 

LESSON XXII. 

Movement 47 

Quantity 48 

LESSON XXIII. 

Inflections 49 

Rising inflection 49 

Falling inflection 50 

Circumfles 60 

LESSON XXIV. 

Pauses 52 

Parenthesis 53 

LESSON XXV. 

Emphasis 53 

Cadence 54 

LESSON XXVI. 

Impure tones 56 

Aspirate 56 

Guttural 56 

Falsetto 57 

LESSON XXVII. 

Position 57 

Countenance 59 

Gesture 59 

Directions and abbreviations 60 

Exercises 61 

LESSON XXVIII. 

Exercises in gesture continued 62 



10 



LESSON XXIX. 

Expression 64 

LESSON XXX. 

Transition 65 

Examples in transition 66 

Questions for examination 70 

How to criticize elocution 73 

Hamlet's instruction 74 



SELECTIONS. 

The elocution of the pulpit 75 

The cynic 77 

Definition of eloquence 78 

Socrates Snooks 79 

Evening at the farm 80 

Hamlet's soliloquy 82 

A Legend of Bregenz 83 

Char-co-o-al 86 

Supposed speech of John Adams 88 

Bugle song 90 

Ignorance in our country a crime 91 

Charge of the light brigade 93 

Fourth of July oration 94 

Examination of a witness 96 

Industry and eloquence ^'^ 

The burning ship 99 

The bells 101 

Jimmy Butler and the owl 104 

Clarence's dream 109 

The charcoal man 110 

The bells of Shandon 113 

The cataract of Lodore 113 

Nobody's child 114 



APPENDIX. 
Words often mispronounced 117 



LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 



LESSOJSr I. 



Elocution is the science which teaches the proper 
delivery of 'words. 

ANALYSIS OF WORDS. 

Words are a combination of vocal sounds. 

Yocal sounds are represented by letters, and pro- 
duced by the organs of speech. 

The English language is represented by twenty- 
six letters, each letter having one or more sounds. 

The letters are divided into vowels and conso- 
nants. The sounds are divided into vocals, sub- vo- 
cals, and aspirates. 

Yowels represent vocal sounds. Consonants rep- 
resent sub- vocal sounds and aspirates. 

Yocals are unobstructed sounds. Sub-vocals are 
obstructed sounds, and aspirates are breath sounds. 

Yocal sounds are simple and compound. 

TABLE OF SIMPLE VOCALS. 



a as 


in arm, far, car. 


1 as in 


it, ill, in. 


a ' 


' all, or, law. 


" 


on, what. 


i ' 


' dare, fare. 


00 " 


ooze, do, rue. 


a ' 


' at, can, lad. 


do " 


book, full, look. 


e ' 


eve, me, the. 


er* " 


her, urn, sir. 


g ' 


' ell, end, met. 


ii " 


up, sup, cup. 



♦This sound is also represented by or as in work, ar as in fear, re as 
in ore, and ear as in earn. 

(11) ■ 



12 



LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 



Compound vocals are composed of two simple 
vowel sounds. 

TABLE OF COMPOUND VOCALS. 



a 


as in ale, ha 


s the soui 


d of 


a+e. 


i 


" ice, 






ii+i. 





" old. 






o-j-oo. 


Ol] 


L " out, now, 






a+oo. ■ 


oi 


" oil, joy, 






a+i- 


u 


" use, few. 






l-j-OO. 




TABLE OF SUB-VOCALS. 




b as in 


boy, ebb, bat. 


m as in 


man 


, me. 


d " 


did, dog, die. 


n " 


run. 


on, an. 


g " 


gag, go, wag. 


ng " 


sing 


ring. 


J " 


judge, joy, wedge. 


1 


lo, hill, will. 


V " 


valve, wave, vale. 


r " 


roar 


rear, row. 


th " 


thee, this, breathe. 


w " 


we. 


way, war. 


z " 


zeal, zone, rise. 


y 


yes. 


yet, year. 


zh " 


azure, measure. 









p as in pipe, cap. 

t " top, met. 

k " back, chasm, 

f " fife, laugh, 

ch " church, which. 



TABLE OF ASPIRATES. 

th as in thin, think. 
s " see, hiss, 
sh " she, wish, 
h " horse, home, 
wh " what, when. 



SOUNDS NOT CLASSIFIED. 

c sounds like s or k — , as in dice, can. 

X sounds like k-[-s or g-j-z, as in ox, locks, exact. 

qu sounds like k-J-w — , as in quart, quarter. 



LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 



13 



LESSON II. 
ANALYSIS OF VOICE. 

The proper delivery of words depends on voice 
and expression. 

Yoice is produced by the vibration of the edges 
of the glottis, caused by the breath passing over the 
vocal cords, which are situated in the larynx, and 
through the cavities of the mouth and nose. 

Perfect control of the breath and vocal organs will 
produce a clear, full, and resonant voice. 

RULES FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF THE BREATH. 

Exile I. Always inhale through the nostrils. 

EuLE II. Take a deep inspiration, contracting 
the abdominal muscles. 

EuLE III. Keep the lungs well inflated while 
reading or speaking. 



MUSCULAR DEVELOPMENT OF THE 
CHEST. 

Position, Fig. 1. Expand the chest and 
the upper part of the body as if defying a 
blow, and you have the active chest. 

Eelax the muscles and let the chest fall 
as if fatigued, and you have the passive 
chest. 




14 



LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 



LESSON III. 

I.— CHEST EXPANSION. 

Position — Elbows sharply 
bent and close to the side, fore- 
arm horizontal, fists clenched, ..::.v;;v;.-t;:,,.., 

f".-".. A 

palms upward. Take a deep ^S -.... 

inspiration. Hold the breath. 

1. Extend the arms for- 
ward with force, relaxing the 
muscles and opening the hands, 
palms downward. 

2. Bring the arms energet- ^^°- ^• 

ically back to their former position, expanding the 
chest as much as possible. 

3. Expel the breath through the nostrils, take a 
fresh inspiration, and repeat from first movement. 




II.— SHOULDER MOVEMENTS. 

Position — Arms falling easily at the side. Take 
a full breath. 

1. Bring the shoulders forward, contracting the 
chest. 

2. Throw the shoulders back and down, expand- 
ing the chest. 

3. Repeat these two movements with expiration 
and inspiration of the breath. 



LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 



15 



ni.— SHOULDER MOVEMENTS,— ARMS BENT. 

Position — Clenched fists at the 
side of the shoulders, palms for- 
ward, fore- arms vertical. 

1. Bring the open hands, palms 
inward, so as to nearly touch each 
other about three inches in front 
of the chin. 

2. Throw the fore-arms back to the side 
last position, fists clenched, palms outward. 

3. Kepeat with expiration and inspiration. 




DEVELOPMENT OF THE LUNGS. 



1. Bring the tips of the fingers 
to the shoulders, inhaling the 
breath through the nostrils at 
the same time. 

2. Strike downward and for- 
ward, clenching the fists with 
the palms front, and expelling 
the breath through the nostrils 
with the movement. In this 
movement keep the body steady 

Fig. 4. and let the expulsion be done 

by the abdominal muscles and diaphragm. 




16 



LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 




PERCUSSION OF THE CHEST. 

Place the hands on 
the chest with the 
fore-fingers just below 
the collar-bones ; fore- 
arms horizontal. Take 
a deep inspiration 
through the nostrils 
and hold the breath. 

1. Strike on the chest rapid percussive blows 
with the hand from the wrist. Count four. 

2. Give out the breath through the nostrils, in- 
haling deeply. Eepeat the first movement. 

N. B.— The blows should be light at first. When 
the practice is easy, they may be increased in force, 
but always free from violence. 



PERCUSSION WITH ARM MOVEMENTS. 

Position — Let the hands fall 
easily at the side ; take a full 
breath. 

1. Swing the arms from the 
shoulder alternately, giving elas- 
tic but not heavy blows upon 
the chest, below the collar-bone. 
Give two blows with each hand. 

2. Exhale and inhale the 
breath as in the preceding ex- 
ercises. 




LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 17 

LESSON IV. 

EXERCISES IN BREATHING. 

1. Relax the muscles of the chest. Take a full 
breath, expandmg the chest to its fullest capacity. 
Exhale gradually. 

2. Expand the sides while inhaling. Exhale 
gradually. 

3. Inhale, expanding the entire waist as if trying 
to burst a belt. Expel the breath by contracting the 
whole waist. 

4. Inhale, directing the will to the muscles of the 
back and expand them as much as possible. Expel, 
drawing these muscles inward. 

5. Breathe deeply, forcing the abdominal muscles 
outward. Expel : the abdominal walls are drawn 
inward and flattened. 

6. " Inhale slowly, exercising the will upon all 
parts of the body simultaneously. Exhale slowly. 
This is an intense form of what should be the natural 
habit of breathing." 

N. B. — Inhale and exhale through the nostrils. 
Commence gradually and discontinue if any sensa- 
tion of dizziness is experienced. Persons not accus- 
tomed to habits of full breathing will derive special 
advantages from these exercises. 



LESSON V. 

EXERCISES IN BREATHING.— CONTINUED. 
Stand perfectly erect, the weight of the body 
resting on one foot, the other in advance, the arms 



18 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 

akimbo, with fingers pressing on the abdominal mus- 
cles in front and the thumbs on the dorsal muscles 
each side of the spine, the chest fully expanded, the 
shoulders held backward and downward. 

Inhale slowly until the lungs are well expanded, 
retain the breath a moment, exhale slowly ; repeat 
six times in succession. 

Inhale quickly; exhale through the mouth slowly 
and quietly, as in natural breathing, retaining the 
active chest. Eepeat six times. 

Expand the lungs to their utmost capacity, ex- 
pel slowly through the open mouth, gently sounding 
the letter h; repeat six times. This exercise is called 
effusive breathing. 

Expand the lungs as before, expel with force as 
in a whispered cough ; repeat six times. This exer- 
cise is called expulsive breathing. 

Expand the lungs as usual, expel suddenly with 
great force as if whispering loudly " W^o" to a person 
in the distance ; repeat six times. This is called ex- 
plosive breathing. 

N. E. — Avoid irritating the throat. Whenever 
the exercise causes coughing, the effort is too violent. 



LESSON YI. 

ANALYSIS OF VOCAL ORGANS. 

Voice is produced by the vibration of the edges 
of the glottis^ caused by the breath passing through 
the larynx and t*he cavities of the mouth and nose. 

The glottis is the opening at the upper part of 
the larynx. 

The larynx is at the top of the windpipe, and is 
the organ of voice. It is susceptible of a multitude 
of changes, affecting the pitch, force, and quality of 
the voice. 



LE.SSONS IN ELOCUTION. 



19 



The passage between the larynx and moath is 
called the pharynx, and is susceptible of various de- 
grees of expansion and contraction. 

In front of the phaiynx is the mouth, which is 
thrown open by the movement of the lower jaw, and 
produces the full effect of a round, smooth, and 
agreeable tone. 

At the top of the pharynx, behind the soft palate, 
is the entrance to the nasal passages. When the 
soft palate is raised it prevents the breath from pass- 
iijg into the nose, and when it is depressed the 
breath flows through the nostrils as well as into the 
mouth. 

THE VOCAL ORGANS. 










Fig. 


1. 






1. 

4. 


Larynx. 
Nasal Pas 

7-7. 


age. 
Point of 


2. Pharynx 
5. Base of 
Tongue. 


Tongue. 


8. 


3. Uvula. 
6. Top of Tongue 
Lips. 



20 



LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 





Interior of the mouth when 
the tone is impure. 



Interior of the mouth when 
the tone is pure. 



LESvSON YII. 

TONES. 

Tones are pure or impure. 

Pure tone is that quality of voice in which all the 
breath is converted into a clear, round, smooth, and 
agreeable sound. It is free from nasal or impure 

quality. 

Impure tones are used in expressing malignant 
feelings, passions, personations, and mimicry. 

Pure tone is used more than any other quality of 
voice, and should be cultivated. The most severe 
and sustained exercise of the voice in pure tone, if 
pitched in the right key, will strengthen and invig- 
orate the lungs and throat and fortify the whole sys- 
tem against the invasion of disease. 

Commence with the sound of ah, as that is the 
most open sound. 



LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 21 

If ah is produced in a deep, full tone, the palate 
and the uvula will rise, while the tongue lies flat, 
and the top of the windpipe descends as in Fig. 9. 

If ah is produced in a nasal tone, the uvula will 
fall and appear to touch the tongue, as in Fig. 8. 

" To think a gape " will place the vocal organs 
in position for pure tones. 

EXERCISES IN VOCAL TONES. 

Active chest. — Inhale the breath so that the ab- 
domen is drawn inward and flattened. Keep the 
head erect but not stifl", and the chest and shoulders 
firm and steady. The efl:brt is made by the working 
of the muscles of the abdomen and the relaxation 
and contraction of the diaphragm.* 

1. 
Sound a, a, o, oo, a, e, sending the voice out in a 
straight column, as follows : — 



Sound the vocals with one breath, as follows : — 

: a 1 z 00 ~ a i e 



3. 
Sound the vocals with one breath, breaking the 
sound at the beginning; of each one : — 



*The diaphragm is the muscle separating the chest from the abdo- 
men, and by its muscular contraction and dilatation, assists inspiration 
and expiration. 



LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 



Sound each vocal, commencing softly, advance to 
greater force, then soften down again at the end : — 



Somid each vocal explosive^, as follows : 



Sound each vocal in a powerful and distinct whis- 
per, as if calling to a person at a distance. 



Sound each vocal as if asking a question — 



Sound each vocal as if answering a question : 



Sound each vocal rapidly, as in laughing : — 



a .".*■..". <"wa -'">■'''.'■»-". 0-" 



JN'oTE. — The above vocal sounds are the sounds 
from which all other vocal sounds are derived. 



LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 



23 



LESSON YIII. 

EXERCISES IN CONSONANTS IN THE ORDER OF THEIR 
FORMATION. 

In practicing across the page, the position of the 
mouth is similar for each letter. In practising verti- 
cally, the action begins with the lips and recedes 
toward the back of the mouth, passing from a whis- 
per to voice, as p to b. 





ASPIRATE. 




SUB- VOCAL. 


^Tame. 




Sound. 


Name 




Sound. 


P 


as in 


pipe, cap. 


b 


as in 


boat, bat. 


wh 




why, when. 


W 


a 


wine, we. 


f 




fat, fife. 


V 


" 


vine, vat. 


th 




thin, pith. 


th 


a 


then, that. 


s 




sin, sis. 


z 


" 


zone, zoe. 


t 




top, too. 


d 


" 


dog, day. 


sh 




shad, sure. 


zh 


a 


azure, vision 


h 




hat, home. 


y 


u 


yet, yes. 


k 




kite, kine. 


g 


u 


g^g, go. 


ch 




chain, such. 


j 


a 


jump, joy. 



Name 

rn 
n 
1 



LIQUIDS. 

Liquids are sub-vocals that maj' be prolonged. 

Name. Sound. 

r as in rear, rank. 



as m 



Sound. 

man, mum. 
nun, name, 
lame, lull. 



ng 



smg, smgmg. 



" The correct sounding of consonants in words is 
necessary to perfect articulation, and is also indis- 
pensable to intelligent speech." 



24 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 

LESSON IX. 

VOWELS AND CONSONANTS. 

Correct pronunciation depends on giving the 
proper sound to the vowels; and distinct pronuncia- 
tion depends on giving the proper sound to the con- 
sonants. 

Practice the following words, giving the proper 
sounds to the vowels and consonants. 

Assume the proper position ; inhale through the 
nostrils ; open the mouth as wide as possible ; raise 
the palate ; the larynx and base of tongue depressed ; 
the lower jaAV dropped ; commence each word softly, 
advance to greater force and then soften down again 
at the end. 

EXERCISES. 

1. Arm, balm, calm, palm, farm. 

2. Awe, ball, call, pall, fall. 

3. Ho, bow, flow, go, row, lo, no. 

4. Coo, do, who, pool, rue. 

5. Way, gay, main, pain, rain. 

6. Eel, seal, feel, peel, reel. 

7. Sound each word with one breath, pausing 
after each sound as follows : b-a-m. 

8. Sound each word in a powerful and distinct 
whisper. 

9. Pour them forth as if calling to a person afar 
off. 

10. Inhale through the nostrils, expanding the 
lungs to the greatest capacity ; expel the breath by 
counting 1,2, 3, 4, 5, 6, etc. 



LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 



25 



LESSOR X. 

CONSONANTS ARRANGED ACCORDING TO THE ACTION 
OE THE ORGANS OF SPEECH. 

LABIALS. 

Labials or lip sounds are made chiefly with the 
lips ; there is a firm compression of the lips to arrest 
the escape of the breath ; then the lips are suddenly 
separated, as follows : — 

p as in pipe. I b as in bab. I m as in mum. 
w '' woe. I V " vive. I f " fife. 

DENTALS. 

Dentals or teeth sounds are made by the tongue, , 
pressing on the teeth or the gums, as follows : — 



t as m tat. 
th " the. 

8 " sis. 



d as in did. 
zh " azure. 
z " zuz. 
j " judge. 



th as in thin, 
sh " she. 
ch " etch. 



PALATALS. 

Palate sounds are made by the tongue pressing 
on the palate, as follows: — 
k as in kirk. | g as in gay. | y as in ye. 

NASALS. 

Nasals sounds are made by the tongue pressing 
against the gums above the upper front teeth, the 
sound passing through the nose, and the lips open. 
Ng is sounded by drawing back and elevating the 
tongue against the veil of the palate so that the 
sound becomes thoroughly nasal. 
n as in nun. | ng as in sing. | nk as in ink. 



26 LESSONS IN liLOCUTION. 



ASPIRATE. 



Aspirate sounds are made by a simple effort of 
the breath as follows: — 

h as in ha. 

LINGUALS. 

Linguals depend on the action of the tongue, 
which is raised, the tip pressing gently against the 
roof of the mouth, touching the ridge of the upper 
front teeth. 

1 as in lull. I r as in roar. 



LESSON XI. 

ARTICULATION. 

Articulation consists in giving every letter in a 
syllable or word its due proportion of sound, and in 
making a distinction between the syllables of which 
words are composed, according to the standard of 
pronunciation. 

Pronounce each of the following words. Do not 
fail to complete the sound of every consonant by 
restoring the vocal organs to their normal state: — 

1. Slowly, taking breath between each word. 

2. Rapidly and energetically. 

3. In whispers. 

ASPIRATE CONSONANTS. 
Pity, pulp, peter, paper, fitter, falter, filter, laugh, 
rough, thin, tent, taller, elk, wash, post, posts, health, 
height, milk, nymph, strength, call'st, roll'st, heal'st, 
tost, trusts, straightest, sect, church, shrine, shrub. 



LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 27 

VOICE CONSONANTS. 

Blame, brave, bleed, blow, blest, bread, drain, 
barb, orb'd, distiirb'd, gorg'd, barr'd, bulbs, delve, 
barbarous, babe, eggs, stabb'd, builds, oruinea, groat, 
giddy, giggling, deadly, adjudged, fatigued, vulgar, 
vague. 

DIFFICULT DOUBLE AND TRIPLE CONSONANT ENDINGS. 

And, barb, wasp, alps, gulfed, tenths, lengths, 
ringst, depths, droopst, laughst, asps, helpst, twelfths, 
attemptst, thinkst, precincts, overwhelmst, sixths, 
tests, charmst, diggst, hundredst, beggdst, catch dst, 
actst, tasks. 



LESSON XII. 

DIFFICULT COMBINATIONS. 

1. A big black bug bit a big black bear. 

2. Bid you say a notion or an ocean ? 

3. Bring me some ice, not some mice. 

4. He crossed wastes and deserts and wept bit- 
terly. 

5. Life's fitful fever over, he rests well. 

6. Would that all difference of sects were at an 
end. 

7. The old cold scold sold a school coal-scuttle. 

8. Eight great gray geese grazing gaily into 
Greece. 

9. The cat ran up the ladder with a lump of raw 
liver in her mouth. 

10. Amos Ames, the amiable aeronaut, aided in an 
aerial enterprise at the age of eighty- eight. 



28 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 

11. Thou bridldt^t thy tongue, wreatb'dst thy lips 
with smiles, imprison'dst thy wrath, and truckl'dst 
to thine enemy's power. 

12. Thou reason'dst falsely, harden'dst thine heart, 
smother' dst the light of thine understanding, heark- 
en'dst to the words of lying lips, and doom'dst thy- 
self to misery. 

13. Thirty-three thousand and thirty -three thought- 
less youths thronged the thoroughfare and thought 
that they could thwart three thousand thieves by 
throwing thimbles at them. 

14. His exclamation was, " chaste stars," not " chase 
tars." 

15. Sheba Sherman Shelly sharpened his shears 
and sheared his sheep. 

16. Benjamin Bramble Blimber, a blundering 
banker, borrowed the baker's birchen broom to 
brush the blinding cobwebs from his brain. 

17. A gentle current rippled by. 

18. Man wants but little here below, nor wants 
that little long. 

19. Foreign travel enlarges and liberalizes the 
mind. 

20. Do you like herbs in your broth? 

21. The culprit was hurled from the Tarpian rock. 

22. Perciva^'s acts and extracts. 

23. He boasts^ he twists the texts to suit the several 
sects. 

24. He sawed six sleek slim saplings. 

25. Thou wreath'dst and niuzzledst the far-fetched 
ox. 

26. Amidst the mists, he thrusts hie fists ao'ainst 
the posts. 



LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 29 

27. The ineligibility of the preliminaries is unpar- 
alleled. 

28. The swan swum over the sea, well swum swan. 

29. Theophilus Thistle, the successful thistle sifter, 
in sifting a sieve of unsifted thistles, thrust three 
thousand thistles through the thick of his thumb. 

30. Such individual irregularities are generally ir- 
remediable. 

31. He acted contrary to the peremptory injunc- 
tions that were given. 

32. Execrable Xantippe exhibited extraordinary 
and excessive irritability. 

33. The rough and rugged rocks rear their hoary 
heads high on the heath. 

34. We alienate many by requiting a few with su- 
pernumerary gratuities. 

35. An inalienable eligibility of election, which 
was of an authority that could not be disputed, ren- 
dered the interposition of his friends altogether su- 
pererogatory. 

36. Whelply Whewell White was a whimsical, 
whining, whispering, whittling whistler. 



LESSON XIII. 

RECREATIONS IN ARTICULATION. 

A day or two ago, during a lull in business, two 
little boot-blacks, one white and one black, were 
standing at the corners doing nothing, when the 
white boot-black agreed to black the black book- 
black's boots. The black boot-black was of course 
willing to have his boots blacked by his fellow boot- 



30 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 

black, and the boot-black who had agreed to black 
the black boot-black's boots went to work. 

When the boot-black had blacked one of the black 
boot-black's boots till it shone in a manner that 
Avould make any boot-black proud, this boot-black 
who had agreed to black the black boot-black's 
boots refused to black the other boot of the black 
boot-black until the black boot-black, who had con- 
sented to have the white boot-black black his boots, 
should add five cents to the amount the white boot- 
black had made blacking other men's boots. This 
the boot-black whose boot had been blacked refused 
to do, saying it was good enough for a black boot- 
black to have one boot blacked, and he didn't care 
whether the boot that the white boot-black hadn't 
blacked was blacked or not. 

This made the boot-black who had blacked the 
black boot-black's boot as angry as a boot-black 
often gets, and he vented his black wrath by spitting 
upon the blacked boot of the black boot-black. 
This roused the latent passions of the black boot- 
black, and he proceeded to boot the white boot-black 
with the boot which the white boot-black had blacked. 
A fight ensued, in which the white boot-black who 
had refused to black the unblacked boot of the black 
boot-black blacked the black boot-black's visionary 
organ, and in which the black boot-black wore all 
the blacking ofi:' his blacked boot in booting the 
white boot-black. 

Shrewd Simon Short sewed shoes. Seventeen 
summers' storms and sunshine saw Simon's small, 
shabby shop standing staunch, saw Simon's self-same 
sign still swinging, silently specifying: "Simon 



LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 31 

Short, Smithfield's sole surviving shoemaker. Shoes 
sewed and soled superfinely." Simon's spry sedulous 
spouse, Sally Short, sewed shirts, stitched sheets, and 
stuifed sofas. Simon's six stout sturdy sons — Seth, 
Samuel, Stephen, Saul, Shadrach, and Silas, sold 
sundries. Sober Seth sold sugar, starch, spices ; 
Simple Sam sold saddles, stirrujjs. screws; sagacious 
Stephen sold silks, satins, sbawJs; skeptical Saul sold 
silver salvers, silver spoons; selfish Shadrach sold 
shoe strings, soaps, saws, skates; slack Silas sold 
Sally Short's stuft^'d solas. 

Some seven summers since, Simon's second son, 
Samuel, saw Sophia Sophronia Sj^riggs somewhere. 
Sweet, sensible, smart Sophia Sophronia Spriggs ! Sam 
soon showed strange symptoms. Sam seldom stayed 
at the store selling saddles, but sighed sorrowfully, 
sought Sophia Sophronia's society, sang several sere- 
nades slyl}'. Simon stormed, scolded severely, said 
Sam seemed so silly, singing such shameful, senseless 



" Strange Sam should slight such S2)lendid sum- 
mer sales," said Simon. " Strutting spendthrift! shat- 
ter-brained simpleton !" 

'' Softly, softly, sire," said Sally; "Sam's smitten 
— Sam's spied a sweetheart. 

" Sentimental schoolboy! " snarled Simon; " Smit- 
ten! Stop such stuff!" 

Simon sent Sally's snuff-box spinning, seized 
Sally's scissors, smashed Sally's spectacles, and scat- 
tered several spools. " Sneaking scoundrel ! Sam's 
shockhig silliness shall surcease ! " Scowling Simon 
stopped speaking, starting swiftly shopward. Sally 
sighed sadly. Summoning Sam she spoke sweet 
sympathy. 



32 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 

"Sam," said she, "sire seems singularly snappy: 
so, son, stop strolling, stop smoking segars, and 
spending specie superfluously ; stop sprucing so ; 
stop singing serenades, — stop short : sell saddles, 
son ; sell saddles sensibly ; see Sophia Sophronia 
Spriggs soon; she's sprightly, she's staple, so solicit 
and secure Sophia speedily, Sam." 

"So soon? so soon?" said Sam, standing stock' 
still. 

"So soon! surely," said Sally, smiling, "specially 
since sire shows such spirit." 

So Sam, somewhat scared, sauntered slowly, shak- 
ing stupendously. Sam soliloquizes: 

" Sophia Sophronia Spriggs Short — Sophia Soph- 
ronia Short, Samuel Short's spouse — sounds splendid! 
Suppose she should say — she sha'n't!" 

Soon Sam spied Sophia starching shirts and sing- 
ing softly. Seeing Sam, she stopped starching and sa- 
luted Sam smilingly. Sam stammered shockingly: 

" Sp-sp-splendid summer season, Sophia." 

" Somewhat sultry," suggested Sophia. 

" Sar-sartin, Sophia," said Sam. (Silence seven- 
teen seconds.) 

"Selling saddles still, Sam?" 

" Sar-sar-sartin," said Sam, starting suddenly. 
" Season's somewhat soporific," said Sam, stealthily 
staunching streaming sweat, shaking sensibly. 

" Sartin," said Sophia, smiling significantly. "Sip 
some sweet sherbet, Sam." (Silence sixty seconds.) 

" Sire shot sixty sheldrakes, Saturday," said 
Sophia. 

"Sixty? sho!" said Sam. (Silence seventy-seven 
seconds.) 



LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 33 

" See sister Susan's sunflowers," said Sophia, so- 
ciably scattering such stiff silence. 

Sophia's sprightly sauciness stimuated Sam 
strangely : so Sam suddenly spoke sentimentally : 
" Sophia, Susan's sunflowers seem saying, ' Samuel 
Short and Sophia Sophronia Spriggs, stroll serenely 
^and seek some sequestered spot, some sylvan shade. 
Some sparkling spring shall sing soul-soothing 
strains ; sweet songsters shall silence secret sighing ; 
super-angelic sylphs shall — '" 

Sophia snickered; so Sam stopped. 

'' Sophia," said Sam solemnly. 

" Sam," said Sophia. 

" Sophia, stop smiling. Sam Short's sincere. 
Sam's seeking some sweet spouse, Sophia. Speak, 
Sophia, speak! Such suspense speeds sorrow." 

" Seek sire, Sam, seek sire." 

So Sam sought sire Spriggs. Sire Spriggs said, 
" Sartin." 

Seven short sabbaths later saw Sophia Sophronia 
Spriggs the smilling spouse of Simon Short's son 
Samuel. 



LESSON XIY. 

VOCAL SOUNDS. 

The sound of it not followed by r is frequently 
7nisp'07iounced, using the short sound. Examples — 
balm, calm, palm, psalm, calf, half, wrath, aunt, 
laugh, mustache. 

The sound of a as in ask, pass, dance, etc, is fre- 



34 



LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 



quentlj pronounced with the short sound of a as 
in at by many cultivated speakers, although eminent 
orthoepists give it the sound of a or an intermedi- 
ate sound between d and a. This sound occurs 
chiefly in words ending iwff^ft^ ss, sk, sp, nce^ nt^ st. 





EXAMPLES. 




aft 


bombast 


draft 


last 


after 


bask 


dance 


lance 


alas 


basket 


fast 


lass 


amass 


blanch 


graft 


mass 


aghast 


branch 


glass 


mask 


ask 


craft 


ghastly 


mast 


asp 


class 


grant 


pass 


advance 


contrast 


glance 


pant 


answer 


cast 


haft 


plaster 


ant 


casket 


hasp 


pastor 


5hort 6 is 


often sounded 


like broad 


a as in 


wing : — 


EXxlMPLES. 




on 


dog 


log 


off 


often 


soft 


long 


prong 


song 


strong 


thong- 


gone 



Many of the the best speakers give a medium 
sound between o and a. 

Long ic is often incorrectly sounded, like do 
when preceded by d, g, j, 1, n, s, t, ch, th, wh, z. 
Examples, — dubious, duke, duet, due, June, juice, 
jubilee, lunacy, lute, lucid* luminous, new, nude, neu- 
ter, nuisance, suit, sue, suicide, tune, tube, Tuesday, 
chew, illume, institute, thews, whew. 

Long tJ represents the sound of oo after r and sh. 

Examples. — Eude, true, grew, shute, fruit. 



LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 35 

Long a as in fare should not be given the van- 
ishing element e, as in haven. It is frequently pro- 
nounced with short a, although not sanctioned by 
orthoepists. 

When or occurs in an accented syllable, followed 
by a vowel or by ?-, it has its regular short sound o. 

Examples. — Orange, torrid, foreign, coral, cor- 
ridor, coronet. 

Some orthoepists make a distinction in the sounds 
of ur^ as in urn^ er as in Ae?', ir as in first; also 
ear as in Jieard, or as in work, our as in scou7-ge, 
yr as in myrtle, ar as in liar, uer as in guerdon. 
Smart says, " Even in the refined classes of society 
in England, sur, dm% hurd, etc., are the current pro- 
nunciation of sir, dirt, bird; and indeed, in all very 
common words it would be somcAvhat affected to in- 
sist on the delicate shade of difference." Avoid giv- 
ing the sound of ii, as gu^rl for girl. 



LESSON XV. 

ARTICLES. 
The article a is always given its long sound when 
emphatic. When unemphatic it becomes obscure, ap- 
proaching the short vowel u. 

The article the, when emphatic, is pronounced with 
e long. When unemphatic before a vowel, the e has 
the sound of short i, and before a consonant the sound 
of short It. 



36 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 

The sound of s, when followed by long fi, or the 
pronoun you, is often incorrectly changed to sh. 

Examples. — We shall miss you. He will pass 
Utica. 

ASPIRATE SOUNDS IN PLURALS. 

The aspirate sound of th should be preserved in 
the plurals, as truths^ youths, breaths, icithes. The vocal 
sound th in the plurals, as baths, laths, paths^ moths, 
oaths, mouths, wreaths. 

In the adjective forms, as blithe, lithe, it is vocal ; 
also, in the verb forms, bathe, clothe^ sheathe, wreathe, etc. 

' UNACCENTED VOWELS. 

Webster says : " When an unaccented syllable 
ends in a consonant, its vowel, if single, has in strict 
theory, its regular short or shut sound, though ut- 
tered somewhat more faintly, or with a less propor- 
tionate force than in an accented syllable, as-sign', 
co7^-duct', cori-flict', etc. In many words of this class, 
however, the vowel is apt to suffer a change of its 
distinctive quality, passing over into some sound of 
easier utterance." 

The sound of short ii being the easiest of utterance, 
is often called the natural vowel. This sound is fre- 
quently used by careless speakers thus: putdtuh for 
potato, enumy for enemy, u-iiidiih for window, will 
yilJi for will you, charidy for charity, etc. 

The following general principles indicate the 
tendencies of unaccented vowels. 

Long a and long e tend toward short i. 

Examples. — Sunday, village, before, society, etc. 



LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 37 

Italian a, intermediate a, long and short o tend 
toward short it. 

Examples. — Dollar, compass, particular, tobacco, 
potato, labor, orator. 

EXERCISES IN PRONUNCIATION. 

"An Indian, attracted by the aroma of the cof- 
fee and the broth arising from the bivouac, and mo- 
ving down the path, met a bombastic brave who was 
troubled with bronchitis. The Indian, being in dis- 
habille, was treated with disdain by this blackguard, 
who called him a dog and bade him with much ve- 
hemence and contumely to leave his domain, or he 
would demonstrate with his carbine the use of a cof- 
fin and a cemetery. The Indian calmly surveyed 
the dimensions of his European antagonist and op- 
ponent, and, being sagacious and robust, and having 
all the combativeness of a combatant, shot this ruffian 
in the abdomen with an arrow. 

" A young patriot with a black mustache, coming 
from the museum, laughingly said, 'Bravo; you 
should be nationally rewarded by receiving the right 
of franchise ; for I witnessed the altercation, and the 
evidence is irrefragable and indisputable that you 
have removed a nauseous reptile.'" 



38 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 

LESSON .X Y 1 . 

VOCAL PRACTICE. 

Practice the exercise as in Figs. 2, 3, 4, expelling 
the breath, uttering th^ sound Ho, in half whisper 
and half voice. Eepeat six times. 

Sound a twice in a whisper, and the third time in 
voice with one breath. 

ichisper whisper voice 

ah ah ah 

Eepeat six times. 

Practice the exercise as in Figs. 2, 3, 4, convert- 
ing breath into sound, uttering the exclamation ha 
each time. Avoid the violence which irritates the 
throat; do not send out breath mixed with voice, as 
in half whisper. 

OROTUND VOICE 
Is the s^mimetrical enlargement of 23ure voice, and 
is produced by a corresponding expansion of all the 
vocal organs. It is the grandest quality of the speak- 
ing voice. It is a full, clear, strong, smooth and ring- 
ing sound, rarely heard in ordinary speech except 
by careful cultivation. Dr. Eush describes the fine 
qualities of voice constituting the orotund in the 
following words : — 

It is used to express whatever is grand, vast, or 
sublime. 

By a fullness of voice is meant that grave or hol- 
low volume which approaches to hoarseness. 

By a freedom from nasal murmur and aspiration. 

By a satisfactory loudness and audibility. 

By a smoothness or freedom from all reedy or 
guttural harshness. 



LESSONS TN ELOCUTION. 39 

Persons possessing the orotund voice appear to 
be laboring under a slight degree of hoarseness. It is 
more musical and flexible than the common voice, 
and depends on cultivation and management. More 
depends on cultivation than natural peculiarit}'. 

RULES TO BE OBSERVED IN THE OROTUND VOICE. 

1. Take a deep breath, contracting the muscles of 
the abdomen. 

2. Let the pharynx or back part of the mouth be 
well expanded. 

3. The tongue depressed. 

4. The uvula raised. 

5. The larynx depressed. 

6. The breath or voice directed in a vertical stream, 
with great boldness and firmness. 

EXAMPLES. 

1. It took Eome three hundred years to die; and 
our death, if we perish^ will be as much more terrific 
as our intelligence and free institutions have given 
to us more bone and sinew and vitality. May God 
hide me from the day Avhen the dying agonies of my 
country shall begin! O, thou beloved land, bound 
together by the ties of brotherhood and common 
interest and perils, live forever — one and undivided. 

2. O thou that rollest round as the shield of my 
fathers! Whence are thy beams, O sun! thy ever- 
lasting light? 

3. Thy right hand, O Lord, is become glorious in 
power: thy right hand, O Lord, hath dashed in 
pieces the enemy, and in the greatness of thine ex- 
cellency thou hast overthrown them that rose up 



40 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 

against thee : thou sendest forth thy wrath, which 
consumed them as stubble, and with the blast of thy 
nostrils the waters were gathered together: the 
floods stood upright as an heap, and the depths 
were congealed in the heart of the sea. 



LESSON XYII. 

QUALITY OF PURE AND OROTUND VOICE. 
Quality of voice depends oil), pitch, force^ stress and 

movement. 

PITCH. 

Pitch signifies the place in the musical scale on 
which the element, syllable, or word is sounded, or 
the pitch of the voice in reading or speaking. 

The speaking voice, in good elocution, seldom 
rises higher than a sixth above the lowest note of its 
compass. 

Pitch is produced by the elevation or depression 
of the larnyx, and by the increased or diminished 
size or capacity of the throat. Low or grave sounds 
appear to come from the chest, caused by the depres- 
sion of the larynx, and high or acute tones from 
the head, caused by the elevation of the larynx. 

Pitch is either very low, low, middle, high, or 
very high. 

Low pitch is adapted to solemn, sublime, and 
grand passages. 

Middle pitch is adapted to ordinary, unimpas- 
sioned conversation. 

High pitch is adapted to gay and joyous emo- 
tions, also for triumph and exultation, or for the ex- 
tremes of grief and alarm. 



i 



LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 



41 



GAMUT FOR VARYING THE PITCH OF THE SPEAKING 

VOICE. 

Arranged by Lewis. 



10th. 


E-mi. 


John, get up, you lazy boy. 


Falsetto. 


9th or 2d, 
full tone. 


D-re. 


In the lost battle borne down by the 

flying, 
Where mingles war's rattles with 

groans of the dying. 


High wailing 
tone like a 
chant. 


8th(oct've), 
full tone. 


C— DO. 


Up, comrades 1 up I in Rokeby's 

halls 
Ne'er be it said our courage falls ! 


Very high, for 
joy or alarm. 


7th pitch, 
semitone. 


B— si. 


Oh mercy ! dispel 
Yon sight, that it freezes my spirit 
to tell. 


High, for pa- 
thos. 


6th pitch, 
full tone. 


K-la. 


To arms ! to arms 1 to arms I they 
cry. 
Grasp the shield, and draw the 

sword ; 
Lead us to Philippi's lord, 
Let us conquer him, or die. 


High tone. 


5th pitch, 
full tone. 


G-sol. 


Come one — Come all I This rock 

shall fly 
From its firm base as soon as I. 


Bold and domi- 
nant tone. 


4th pitch, 
full tone. 


F-fa. 


Oh, how wretched 
Is that poor man that hangs on 
princes' favors. 


Grave tone. 


3d pitch, 
semitone. 


E-mi. 


'Tis the eternal law that where 

guilt is. 
Sorrow shall answer it. 


Pathos and so- 
lemnity. 


2d pitch, 
full tone. 


B—re. 


Oh look, my son, upon yon sign 
Of the Redeemer's grace Divine. 


Reverential so- 
lemnity. 


Ist pitch, 
full tone. 


C-DO. 


If this same were a churchyard 
where we stand, 

And thou possessed with a thous- 
and wrongs. 


Deepest tone of 
awe. 



42 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 

FORCE. 

Force relates to the loudness of the sound; the 
degrees of which may be described as subdued, 
moderate, energetic and vehement. 

]N'oTE. — An improper and unscientific exercise 
of force often marks the delivery of public speakers, 
and has a tendency, more than any other cause, to 
injure the vocal organs, and often to ruin them for 
life ; but proper discipline and culture develop their 
power, and improve the general health. 

STRESS. 
Stress relates to the application of force to the 
different parts of the word or sound. 
Stress has three leading forms, viz, : — 

1. Eadical. 

2. Median. 

3. Vanishing. 

LESSOT^ XYIII. 

RADICAL STRESS. 

Eadical stress is the application of force to the 
first part of the vocal soimd. It is sudden and quick. 
"The breath is held for a moment and then sent out 
suddenly with a clear, distinct, and cutting force." 

It is used to express intense feeling and emotion. 

" It is this which draws the cutting edge of 
words across the ear, and startles even stupor into 
attention ; this which lessens the fatigue of listening 
and outvoices the stir and rustle of an assembly." 
— Dr. Rush. 



LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 43 

•■The utter absence of radical stress bespeaks 
timidity and indecision, confusion of thought, and 
ieebleness of purpose. The right degree of this 
function indicates the manly, self-possessed speaker."' 
— Murdoch and Russell. 

Sound each vocal quick and loud six times: — 
a>> o> a> 00 > e> 

Give the following examples, with proper spirit. 
Bring out the emphatic words with intense force ; 
keep the voice within range, not too high. 

EXAMPLES. 

1. Rise! father, rise! 'tis Rome demands your help ! 

2. Out with you ! — and he went out. 

3. Hold! hold for your lives! 

4. Forward the Light Brig^fZe ! 

5. To arms! to arms! to arms! they cry. 

6. Down^ soothless insulter ! 

7. Go from my sight ! I hate and I despise thee ! 

8. Rouse JQ Romans ! rouse jq slaves! 

9. He dares not touch a hair of Cataline ! 

10. The/oe, they come! they come! 

11. Hence! home! ye idle creatures ! get you home! 

12. You blocks! you stones! you worse than sense- 
less things ! 

13. Fret! 'till 3^our proud heart 6rea^s.^ 

14. If it will feed nothing else^ it will feed my re- 
venge ! 

15. Back to thy punishment, false fugitive ! 

16. Lord Angus, thou hast lied! 



44 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 

LESSON XIX. 

MEDIAN STRESS. 

Median stress is the application of force to the 
middle of the vocal sound. 

Commence the sound in a very subdued tone ; 
gradually increase until the sound is full and deep, 
then gradually diminish in force to the close. 

It is used to express pathos, solemnity, reverence, 
sublimity, devotion, and grandeur. It should be 
applied in different degrees, according to the sen- 
timent. 

Median stress is one of the greatest beauties in 
reading, — although carried to excess, it becomes a 
fault, — and should be judiciously used. 

EXAMPLES. 

1. a <> o <> a <> 00 <> e <> 

2. Woe unto thee, Chorazin. Woe unto thee, Beth- 
saida. 

3. Then age and want, oh ill matched pair, 

Show man was made to mourn. 

4. Holl on, thou deep and dark blue ocean, roll. 

5. Blow, bugle, bloiv; set the wild echoes fli/ing. 

6. Oh the wild charge they made. 

VANISHING STRESS. 

Vanishing stress is the application of the voice to 
the last part of the vocal sound. It commences 
with a light and gentle sound, which gradually in- 
creases in volume, and suddenly terminates with a 
heavy and violent sound. It is one of the best exer- 



J 



LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 45 

cises for strengthening the voice. It is used to ex- 
press determined purpose, earnest resolve, stern re- 
buke, astonishment, contempt, horror, revenge, and 
hate. 

EXAMPLES. 

1. a < o < a < 0(3 < e < 

2. I wont! I shall t! 

3. ^houslavel thou wretch I thoM covmrd ! 

4. Thou little valiant, great in villiany! 

5. Thou ever strong upon the strongest side ; 

6. Th.OM fortune' s champion! 

7. / an liohmg palm? 

8. You know that you are Brutus that speaks this, 

9. Or by the gods this speech were else your last ! 

10. I tell thee, thou art defied! 

11. Hence! horrible shadow, hence! 

12. I say you are not! 

13. I hate him. 



LESSON XX. 

DERIVATIVE FORMS OF STRESS. 

1. Thorough stress. 

2. Compound stress. 

3. Intermittent stress. 

THOROUGH STRESS. 
Thorough stress is the application of the force of 
the voice to the whole extent of the vowel sound. 
It is used in expressing joy, exultation, lofty com- 
mand, indignation, and bravado. 



46 LESSONS IN ELOCUITON. 

EXAMPLES. 

1. a [^ o 3z ^ izi ^^ zn ^ m 

2. Fire! Fire! Fire! 

3. Hurrah ! hurrah for Sheridan ! 
Hurrah ! hurrah for horse and man ! 

4. Princes! potentates! warriors! 
The flowers of heaven 
Once yours, now lost ; 

Awahe! arise! or be forever fallen ! 

5. Rejoice, ye men of Algiers, ring your hells ! 
King John, your king and England's, doth ap- 
pear, 

Open your gates and give the victor way ! 

(This is a vigorous shouting exercise. The chest 
must be expanded to its greatest capacity, the mouth 
well opened, using the utmost force without violence. 
It is invigorating and agreeable, and will give 
strength to the lungs and volume to the voice.) 



LESSON XXI. 
COMPOUND STRESS. 
Compound stress is the application of the force to 
the first and last parts of the sound. It is the union 
of the radical and vanishing stress on the same 
sound, and is used to express surprise, contempt and 
mockery, or sarcasm. 

EXAMPLES. 

1. a >< 6 >< a >< 00 >< c >< 

2. Gone to be r)iarried! Gone to swear a peace ! 
It is not so ; thou hast mis-spoke, mis-heard; 



LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 47 

Be well advised ; tell o'er thy tale again, 
It cannot he; thou dost but say 'tis bo. 

3. Banished from Rome. 

4. Smile on^ my lords: 

/ scorn to count what feelings, withered hopes, 
Strong provocations, bitter, burning wrongs, 
I have within my heart's hot cells shut up 
To leave you in your lazy dignities; 
But here I stand and scoff jom. ; here I fling 
Hatred and full defiance in your face. 

INTERMITTENT STRESS. 

Intermittent stress is a tremulous effort of the 
voice ; the force is broken, it is used to express feeble 
and broken utterance of age, sickness, and grief. 

EXAMPLES. 

1. a ---'-'-' 0--'-'-'- a-'---'-'- 00 '''-'-'"- e '-'-'--'-- 

2. Pity the sorrows of a poor old man, 

Whose ti^emhling limhs have borne him to your door. 

3. He's sinking/ he's sinking/ 
Oh, what shall I do? 



LESSON XXII. 

MOVEMENT. 

Movement of voice is the rate at which we speak. 

Words are uttered slowly, moderately, and rap- 
idly, according to the nature of the sentiment to be 
expressed. 

Slow movement is used to express reverence, sub- 
limity, amazement, awe and horror. 



48 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 

Moderate movement is used in narrative, essays, 
and newspaper articles. 

Eapid movement is used to express joy, anger, or 
excitement. 

'^ Appropriate elocution accommodates the move- 
ment of voice to every mood of thought, from the 
slowest prolonged and lingering utterance of deep 
contemplation and profound awe, to the swift and 
rapid strains of lyric rapture and ecstasy. Utter- 
ance to be natural and effective must have the gen- 
uine expression of its appropriate movement. So- 
lemnity cannot exist to the ear without slowness — 
gayety without briskness of utterance, gravity with- 
out sedate style, nor imagination without a lively 
movement." 

The three principal faults in movement are, uni- 
form slowness or drawling, uniform rapidity, or uni- 
form moderate movement. 

'' Perfect command of every degree of move- 
ment is indispensable to the appropriate expression 
of the different forms of thought and emotion." 

QUANTITY. . 

Quantity is time upon words. It is prolonged 
or shortened according to the nature of the meaning 
of the word. The word long should receive more 
time than short, though the latter contains more 
letters. 

Words of dignity require long quantity. 

Words of impatience or sudden action require 
short quantity. 



LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 49 

LESSON XXIII. 

INFLECTIONS. 
1 11 flections fire slides of the voice used in reading 
oi- speaking, to give better expression ; also to give 
emphasis. 

Inflections are rising and falling : both are united 
in the circumjiex. 

RISING INFLECTION. 
Eising inflection denotes uncertainty, interroga- 
tion, and incompleteness of idea. 

EXAMPLES. 

1. Are you going home? 

2. Shall I know your answer? 

3. Hast thou ever known the feeling I have felt, 

when I have seen, 
Mid the tombs of aged heroes, 
Memories of what hath been — 
What it is to view the present 
In the light of by-gone days; 
From an eminence to ponder 
Human histories and ways? 

4. Was it the chime of a tiny bell, 

That came so sweet to my dreaming ear. 
Like the silvery tones of a fairy's shell, 

That he winds on the beach so mellow and 
clear, 
When the winds and the waves lie together 

asleep, 
And the moon and the fairy are watching the 
deep, 



50 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 

She dispensing her silvery light, 
And he his notes so silvery quite, 

While the boatman listens and ships his oar, 
To catch the music that comes from the 
shore? 

FALLING INFLECTION. 

Falling inflection denotes positiveness, confidence, 
and determination or completion of idea. 

EXAMPLES. 

1. A wise son maketh a glad father, but a foolish 
son is the heaviness of his mother. 

2. Shakspeare was the greatest tragic writer. 

3. The war must go on. 

4. It is my living sentiment, and, by the blessing 
of God, it shall be my dying sentiment, independ- 
ence now, and independence forever. 

5. Art is never art till it is more than art. The 
finite exists only as to the body of the infinite. 
The man of genius must first know the infinite, 
unless he wishes to become, not a poet, but a maker 
of idols. 

EXAMPLES IN RISING AND FALLING INFLECTION. 

Tonch. — How old are you? 
Will. — Five and twenty, sir. 
Tonch. — A ripe age. Is thy name William? 
Will. — William, sir. 

Tonch. — A fair name. Wast born i' the forest, 
here? 

Will. — Ay, sir, I thank God. 

Tonch, — Thank God? a good answer. Art rich? 



LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 51 

Will. — Faith, sir, so-so. 

Tonch. — So-so is good, very good; — very excellent 
good: and yet, it is not; it is but so-so. 

CIRCUMFLEX. 

The circnmflex is a combination of the rising and 
falling inflection on the same syllable or word. 

The falling circumflex terminates on the down- 
ward slide. 

The rising circumflex terminates on the upward 
slide. 

The circumflex inflections express irony, sarcasm, 
doubt, Tnockery, rej^roach, and wonder. 

EXAMPLES. 

1. It is vastly easier for you, Mistress Dial, who 
have always, as everybody knows, set yourself up 
above me — it is vastly easier for you, I say, to ac 
cuse other people of laziness. 

2. My father's trade! now really that's too bad. 
My father's trade ! why, blockhead, are you mad? 
My father, sir, did never stoop so low — 

He was a gentleman, I'd have you know. 

3. The common error is, to resolve to act right 
after breakfast, or after dinner, or to-morrow morn- 
ing, or next time, but now, just now, this once, we 
must go on the same as ever. 

4. Now, in building of chaises, I tell you what, 
There is always somewhere a weakest spot ; 
And that's the reason, beyond a doubt, 

A chaise breaks down, but doesn't wear out. 



OZ LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 

LESSON XXIY. 

PAUSES. 

There are two kinds of pauses in reading, — Grain- 
matical and Rhetorical. 

The grammatical pause is indicated by the marks 
of punctuation, as follows: The comma (,), semi- 
colon (;), colon (:), and period (.); also interrogation 
(?), exclamation (!), dash ( — ), parenthesis (), and 
quotation marks (" "). These are pauses which di- 
vide composition into sentences, and sentences into 
sections. 

These pauses are of great importance, as a disre- 
gard of them in reading will very frequently de- 
stroy the sense completely or change the meaning 
from what it should be. 

Rhetorical pause depends on the construction of 
the sentence, and is one of the chief means of dis- 
tinctness in the expression of thought. It consists 
in suspending the voice before or after the utterance 
of an important thought. The pause before the jmn- 
cijKil ivord excites curiosity and expectation ; the 
pause after the principal word carries the mind back 
to what has been said. " It should not be repeated 
too frequently; for as it excites strong emotions, and 
of course raises expectations ; if the importance of the 
matter be not fully answerable to such expectations 
it occasions disappointment and disgust." Sense and 
sentiment are the best guides in the use of the pause. 

PARENTHESIS. 
" A sentence or certain words inserted in a sen- 
tence, which interrupts the sense or natural connec- 



LESSONS TN ELOCUTION. 53 

tion of words, but serves to explain or quality the 
sense of the principal sentence." 

Parenthesis should be read more ra])idly and in a 
more subdued tone, making a short pause before 
commencing, and resuming the former pitch and 
tone at the principal sentence. 

EXAMPLES. 

1. Know then this truth, (enough for man to 

know,) 
Virtue alone is happiness below. 

2. Oh, woman ! though only a part of man's rib, 
(If the story in Genesis don't tell a fib,) 
Should your naughty companion e'er quarre^ 

with you 
You are certain to prove the best man of the 
two. 

3. I have seen charity (if charity it may be 
called,) insult with an air of pity. 

4. Know ye not, brethren (for I speak unto them 
that know the law), that the law hath dominion over 
a man as long as he liveth ? 

5. I am happy, said he (expressing himself with 
the warmest emotion), infinitely happy in seeing you 
return. 



LESSON XXV. 

EMPHASIS. 

Emphasis gives prominence to certain words and 
phrases, and maybe expressed by an increase of force 
or stress. 

" Emphasis is in speech, what coloring is in paint- 



54 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 

ing. It admits of all degrees, and must, to indicate 
a particular degree of distinction, be more or less 
intense, according to the ground word or current 
melody of the discourse." 

" No certain rules can be given to guide the stu- 
dent in the employment of emphasis. If the voice 
be clear, full, flexible, and under the control of the 
will, he will be able to express what he fully under- 
stands and strongly feels in an effective manner, 
without the aid of rules. The best advice to the 
student upon this point is to study his subject until 
he thoroughly understands it, and then practice upon 
until he can express it to his own satisfaction." 

EXAMPLES. 

"In Homer, we discern all Greek vivacity ; in Virgil 
all the Eoman stateliness. Homer's imagination is by 
much the most rich and copious) Virgil's the most 
chaste and correct. The strength of the former lies in 
his power of loarming the fancy] that of the latter in 
his power of touching the heart. Homer's style is 
more simple and animated] Virgil's more elegant and 
uniform. ^\l\ie first has on many occasions a sublimity 
to which the latter never attains; but the latter in re- 
turn never sinks below a certain degree of epic dignity 
which cannot so clearly be pronounced of the former." 



Cadence is the easy, natural falling of the voice at 
the end of a sentence, which indicates that the sense 
is complete. 

JSTo rules can be given by which to regulate the 
tone and movement of the voice in makino- the ca- 



LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 55 

dence ; the reader must rely upon Lis own taste and 
judgment. 

EXERCISES. 

Count the following numbers, paying particular 
attention to the tone of the voice on the last number. 

1. 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 4, 

\4. ^5. 

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,. 

Give the open vowel sounds in a clear, full tone, 
as follows: — 

2. e, a, au,x o, e, i, oi,. i, oi, e, a, au, 

o. ou. ^u. 

Give a number of names in succession, as in call- 
ing the roll, as follows: — 

3. Smith, Chambers, Butterfield, Edmunds, Mor- 
gan, Brown, Page, Jones, -B-^r^ 

Connect the last two names by and^ letting the 
voice rise a little on the last name but one, and fall, 
as on the previous examples, on the last one, as fol- 
lows: — 

4. Cincinnati, St. Louis, Boston, NasbvU^®' ^^-,^1 
^^^^^ York. 



56 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 

LESSON XXYI. 

IMPURE TONES. 
Impure tones are aspirate, guttural and fahetto. 

ASPIRATE. 
Aspirate is the intense whisper with little or no 
vocality. It is used to express fear, secrec}', horror 
and aversion. 

EXAMPLES. 

1. Hark ! what was that? Hark ! hark ! to the 
shout. 

2. Hark ! I hear the bugles of the enemy ! They 
are on the march along the bank of the river! We 
must retreat instantly or be cut off from our boats ! 
I see the head of their column already rising over 
the height! Our only safety is in the screen of the 
hedge. Keep close to it — be silent — and stoop as 
you run! For the boats! Forward. 

3. Soldiers! You are now within a few steps of the 
enemy's outposts! Our scouts report them as slum- 
bering in parties around their watch-fires, and ut- 
terly unprepared for our approach. A swift and 
noiseless advance around that projecting rock, and 
we are upon them, — we capture them without the 
possibility of resistance ! One disorderly noise or 
motion may leave us at the mercy of their advanced 
guard. Let every man keep the strictest silence un- 
der pain of instant death. 

GUTTURAL. 
Guttural is a harsh throat tone. The sound is sent 
forth in a rough, discordant tone. It expresses hat- 
red, intense anger, loathing and contempt. 



LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 57 

The prominent characteristic of this tone is its 
harsh, discordant quality, produced by the compressed 
and partial closing of the throat above the glottis. It 
denotes all those states of mind classed under dislike 
and ill-humor. When carefully controlled, it is an 
element of great power, but the greatest care should 
be taken to use it in the right sentiment. 

EXAMPLES. 

1. I loathe ye in my bosom, 

I scorn ye with my eye, 
And I'll taunt ye with ni}^ latest breath. 
And fight ye till I die. 

2. Avaunt! and quit my sight. Let the earth 

hide thee. 
Thy bones are marrowless, thy blood is cold, 
Thou hast no speculation in those eyes, 
Which thou dost glare with, 

3. Hence horrible shadow. 
Unreal mockery, hence ! 

4. I'll have my bond ; I idUI not hear thee speak. 
ril have my bond ; and therefore si^eah no more. 
I'll not be made a soft and dull-eyed fool. 

To shake the head, relent, and sigh; and yield 

To Christian intercessors. Follow not; 

I'll have no more speaking, 7 loill have my bond. 

FALSETTO. 

^' Falsetto voice is generally produced above the 
natural tone, and is used in imitation of high female 
voices, in the voices of children, and in affectation, 
etc." 



58 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 

EXAMPLES. 

1. "Now, Socrates, dearest," Xantippe replied, 
I hate to hear every thing vulgarly my'd. 
Now whenever you speak of your chattels 

again, 
Say ottr cow-house, our barn-yard, our pig-pen." 
" By your leave, Mrs. Snooks, I say what I 
please. 
Of my houses, iny lands, my gardens, m?/ trees." 
" Say our,'' Xantippe exclaimed in a rage; 
"I won't, Mrs. Snooks, though you ask it an 
age." 

2. Will the ISTew Year come to-night, mamma, I'm 

tired of waiting, so. 
My stocking hung by the chimney side, full 

three long days ago. 
I run to peep within the door by morning's early 

light, 
'Tis empty still — Oh, say, mamma, will the New 

Year come to-night. 

3. "Yes, it is worth talking of! But that's how 
you always try to put me down. You fly into a rage? 
and then, if I only try to speak, you won't hear me. 
That's how you men always will have all the talk to 
yourselves! A poor woman isn't allowed to get a 
word in." 

LESSON XYIl. 

POSITION. 
The position in speaking or reading should be 
natural, easy and graceful. 

The book should be held in the left hand. The 



i 



LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 59 

eyes should not be fixed on the book, but as the 
reader takes in as many words as he can remember 
at a glance, he should look and read to the audience 
or teacher. 

COUNTENANCE. 

If the speaker or reader has an intelligent knowl- 
edge of his subject, his countenance will assume the 
proper expression. 

GESTURE. 

The arm should be free and unconstrained in ges- 
tures, the movement should be from the shoulder 
rather than the elbow. Elbow slightly curved. 

The hands in gesture should be used easily and 
gracefully. 

The hands may be sv/pine, prone, ve^^tical, p)ointing, 
and clenched. 

The su2nne hand lies open with the palm upward. 

The prone hand is opened with the palm down- 
ward. 

The vertical hand is opened with the palm out- 
ward from the speaker. 

The 2yointing hand, forefinger extended, is used in 
designating or pointing out a particular object. 

The clenched hand denotes intense action of the 
will or passions. 

Hand and arm gestm^es are made in four general 
directions — -front, oblique, lateral, and backward. Each 
is divided into horizontal, descending and ascending. 

Front gestures are used to illustrate that which is 
near to us. 

Oblique gestures are more general in their applica- 
tion, relating to things indefinitely. 



60 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 

Lateral gestures denote expansion, extreme dis- 
tance, etc. 

Backward gestures denote tilings remote, obscure, 
or hidden. 

Horizontal gestures are used in general allusions, 
indicating equality. 

Descending gestures denote inferiority or inequal- 
ity, also expresses determination and purpose. 

Ascending gestures denote superiority, greatness, 
and lofty ideas. 

DIRECTIONS AND ABBREVIATIONS. 

The dotted words indicate where the hand is to 
be raised in preparation. 

The gesture is made upon the words in capitals. 

The hand drops upon the italicized word or sylla- 
ble following the word in capitals. If italicized 
words precede the word in capitals, it indicates that 
the hand is to follow the line of gesture. 

E. H. S. Eight Hand Supine. E. H. P. Eight 
Hand Prone. E. H. V. Eight Hand Vertical. B. 
H. S. Both Hands Supine. B. H. P. Both Hands 
Prone. B.H.V. Both Hands Vertical. D.f. Descend- 
ing Front. A.f. Ascending Front. D.o. Descending 
Oblique. H. o. Horizontal Oblique. A. o. Ascending- 
Oblique. D. e. Descending Extended. H. e. Hori- 
zontal Extended. A. e. Ascending Extended. D. 
b. Descending Backward. H. b. Horizontal Back- 
ward. A. b. Ascending Backward. 

The following examples have appeared in several 
works on elocution — The New York Speaker, Bead- 
ing and Elocution, etc. 



LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 61 

EXERCISES. 
R. H. S. 

D.f. This sentiment I will maintain | witli tlir 
last breath of life. 

//./. I appeal | to you, sir, for your demion. 

A. f. \ appeal | to the great Searcher of hearts 
lor the truth of what I ut ter. 

D. 0. Of all mistakes | none are so fa tal as those 
those we incur through prejudice. 

H. 0. Truth, honor, | jus tice were his mo tives. 

A. 0. Fix your eye | on the prize of a truly Noble 
am hi tiow. 

D. e. Away — with an idea so absurd! 

H. e. The breeze of morning | wafted in cense on 
the air. 

A. e. In dreams thro' camp and court he bore | 
the trophies of a con queror. 

D. b. Away | with an idea so abhorrent to hu- 
manity ! 

//. 6. Search the records of the remotest an tiq 
uity for a ^«rallel to this. 

A. b. Then rang their proud hurrah! 

R. H. p. 
D.f. Put DOWN I the unworthy feeling I 
H.f Ee strain the unhallowed pro/?e?^sity. 
D. o. Let every one who would merit the Christian 
name | re press | such a feeling. 



62 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 

H. 0. I charge you as men and as Christians | to 
lay a re straint on all such clispo si tions ! 

A. 0. Ye gods | with hold your venge^ncel 

D. e. The hand of affection | shall smooth the turf 
for your last p^71ow ! 

H. e. The cloud of adver | sity threw its gloom 
over all his \ PROS pects. 

A. e. So darkly glooms yon thunder-cloud that 
swathes | as with a purple shroud Benledi's distant 
hill. 

LESSON XXVIII. 

EXERCISES IN GESTURE.— CONTINUED. 
E,. H. V. 
H.f. Arise ! meet | and re pel your/oe.^ 
A.f. For BID it, Almighty God! 
U. o. He generously extended the arm of power | 
to ward off the hloio. 

A. 0. May Heaven a vert the calcw«-ity ! 
H. e. Out of my sight, | thou serpent ! 
H. h. Thou tempting fiend, a vaunt ! 

B. H. S. 

D.f. All personal feeling he deposited on the 
a^tar of his country's good. 

H.f. Listen, I implore you, to the voice o^rea son ! 

A.f. Hail! universal Zort/. 

D.o. Every personal advantage | he surRENdered 
to the common good. 



LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 63 

H. 0. Welcome! once more to your early Ao;/ie/ 

A. 0. Hail ! holy Light ! 

D. e. I utterly re nounce | all the supposed ad- 
vantages of such a station. 

//. e. They yet slept | in the wide a byss of pos- 
si h'd ity . 

A. G. Joy, jo}' I for ever. 

B. H. p. 

D.f. Lie light ly on him, earth — his step was 
light on thee. 

H.f. Now all the blessings of a glad father light 
on thee! 

A.f. Blessed be Thy name, O Lord Most High. 

D. 0. We are in Thy sight | but as the worms of 
the DUST ! 

H. 0. May the grace of God | abide tvith you for- 

EVER ! 

A. 0. And let the triple rainbow rest | oer all the 
mountain TOPS. 

D. e. Here let the tumults of passion | forever 

CEASE ! 

H. e. Spread vyide a round the heaven -breathing 
calm ! 

A. e. Heaven | opened wide her ever-during gates. 

B. H. V. 

H.f. Hence, hideous specter ! 

A. f. Avert, God.^ the frown of thy indignation ! 



64 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 

//. 0. Far from our Jtearts be so iiihiiinan a feeling. 
A. 0. Let me not | name it to yoii, ye chaste stars ! 
//. e. And if the night have gathered aught of evil 
or concealed, dis perse it. 

A. e. Melt and dis pel, ye specter doubts! 



LESSON XXIX. 
EXPRESSION. 

ExiwGssion is the art of adapting the voice, coun- 
tenance, and gestures to the nature of the sentiment. 

"As it is impossible to print a tear, a groan, a 
sneer, a laugh, or a look, so it is impossible to express 
all the meaning of an author unless, in the spirit of 
the sentiment, and from long practice, one is able to 
express that sentiment. The mere repetition of the 
words of Shakspeare would give little idea of the full 
meaning and power of those words. In this view, 
manner is quite as important as matter, for without it 
the choicest ideas, as represented by words, are life- 
less." Hence, expression in elocution is the appro- 
priate and harmonious application of all the princi- 
ples of voice culture. 

Quality, Pitch, Force, Stress, Movement, Empha- 
sis, Inflection, Pause, and Personation, are essential 
requirements to give expression and educate the 
taste and judgment. 

Special attention should be given to the change 
of voice in Personation, as it is of the greatest im- 
portance in public reading and declamation. 

The best guide for expression is to realize and 



LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 65 

understand the passage to be read, and then give the 
a))propriate tones, which will require an intelligent 
analysis of the subject. 

We may, by the use of Pitch, Force, Stress, 
Movement, Emphasis, Inflection, Pause, and Persona- 
tion, give different meaning to our words or sentences, 
according to the application. 

Eead the sentence, " Many men are misled by 
fame," without emphasis, middle ;;i7cA. Emphasize 
one of the words and the sense will be different, as 
follows: — 

1. Many men are misled by fame. 

2. Many men are misled by fame. 

3. Many men are misled by fame. 
1. Many men are misled \)j fame. 

5. Many men are misled by fame. (Low and soft.) 

6. Many men are misled by fame. (Whisper.) 

7. Many men are misled by fame. (Tre7nor.) 

" A good reader or speaker ought not only to be 
able to sound every word correctly, but should know 
always the exact meaning of what he reads, and feel 
the sentiment he utters, and also to know how to 
give the intended meaning and emotion when he 
knows them." 

LESSON XXX. 
TRANSITION. 

Transition in elocution is the power of giving 
proper variety to reading. Without it, reading is mo- 
notonous. There must be harmony between the 
voice and the sentiment. If the subject of descrip- 



66 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 

tion or the sentiment bo one of calmness and gentle- 
ness, the voice must be soft and gentle. If it be 
noisy or contentious, it becomes high and powerful. 
" Transition also refers to the changes in style, as 
from persuasive to declamatory; also to the expres- 
sion of passion or emotion, as from grief to joy, fear 
to courage, hope to despair." 

EXAMPLES, ADAPTED FROM MONROE's MANUAL. 
1. 

Soft. Soft is the strain when zephyr gently blows, 

And the smooth stream in smoother numbers flows ; 

Loud. But when loud surges lash the sounding shore, 

The hoarse, rough verse should like the torrent roar. 

2. 

Slow. When Ajax strives some rock's vast weight to throw, 
The line, too, labors : and the words move slow ; 

Quick. Not so, when swift Camilla scours the plain. 

Flies o'er the unbending corn, and skims along the main. 

3. 

Aspirated. Hush ! hark ! did stealing steps go by ? 

Came not faint whispers near ? 
PuBB TONE. Nol — The wild wind hath many a sigh 

Amid the foliage sere. 

4. 

Pure tone. A thousand hearts beat happily ; and when 
Music arose with its voluptuous swell. 
Soft eyes looked love to eyes which spake again. 
And all went merry as a marriage-bell ; — 

Aspirated. But hush ! hark ! a deep sound strikes like a rising 
knell ! 

5. 
Orotund. Her giant form 

O'er wrathful surge, through blackening storm, 
Majestically calm, would go, 
'Mid the deep darkness, white as snow ! 



LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 



67 



Pure tone. But gentler now the email waves glide 

Like playful lambs o'er a mountain side, 

Orotund. So stately her bearing, so proud her array. 
The main she will traverse forever and aye. 
Many ports will exult at the gleam of her mast ! 

Aspirated. Hush ! hush ! thou vain dreamer ! this hour is her last. 



Gradually How soft the music of those village bells, 

SOFTER. Falling at intervals upon the ear 

In cadence sweet ! now dying all away, 
Gradu.ally Now pealing loud again, and louder still, 

LOLT)ER. Clear and sonorous as the gale comes on. 

7. 
Middle pitch. From that chamber clothed in white, 

The bride came forth on her wedding night ; 
Low PITCH. There, in the silent room below, 

The dead lay in his shroud of snow. 

8. 
Loud. Rise ! rise ! ye wild tempests, and cover his flight ! 

Subdued. 'Tis finished. Their thunders are hushed on the moors, 
Culloden is lost, and my country deplores. 



Loud. The double, double, double beat 
Of the thundering drum, 
Cries, Hark ! the foes come : 
Charge, charge I 'tis too late to retreat. 

Soft. The soft complaining flute. 
In dying notes discovers 
The woes of hapless lovers ; 
Whose dirge is whispered by the warbling lute. 

10. 
Loud. The combat deepens. On, ye brave, 
Who rush to glory, or the grave ! 
Wave, Munich ! all thy banners wave, 
And charge with all thy chivalry ! 



68 



LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 



Soft. Ah 1 few shall part where many meet ! 
The snow shall be their winding-sheet, 
And every turf beneath their feet 
Shall be a soldier's sepulchre. 

11. 
Loud. Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more. 

Or close the wall up with ou]^ English dead ! 
Moderate. In peace, there's nothing so becomes a man, 

As modest stillness and humility ; 
Loud. But when the blast of war blows in our ears, 

Then imitate the action of the tiger; 

Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood. 

Disguise fair nature with hard-favored rage. 
Very loud. On^ on, you noblest English, 

Whose blood is fetched from fathers of war-proof ! 

Fathers, that, like so many Alexanders, 

Have, in these parts, from morn till even fought. 

And sheathed their swords for lack of argument. 
Quick and I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips, 

Straining upon the start. The game 's afoot; 

Follow your spirits, and, upon this charge, 
VERT LOUD. Cry, — Heaven for Harry ! England ! and St. 
George ! 

12. 
Aspirated. Hark ! below the gates unbarring ! 

Tramp of men and quick commands ! 
Pure tone. "'Tis my lord come back from hunting." 

And the Duchess claps her hands. 

Soft. Slow and tired, came the hunters; 

Stopped in darkness in the court. 
Loud. "Ho, this way, ye laggard hunters! 

To the hall ! What sport, what sport? " 

Slow and Slow they entered with their Master; 

SOFT. In the hall they laid him down. 

Slightly On his coat were leaves and blood-stains, 
aspirated. On his brow an angry frown. 



LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 



69 



13. 
Gkaduallt Ever, as they bore, more loud, 

LOUDER. And louder rang the pibroch proud. 

Gradually At first the sound, by distance tame, 

SOFTER. Mellowed, along the waters came ; 

And lingering long by cape and bay, 
Wailed every harsher note away; 
Loud. When bursting bolder on the ear. 

The clan's shrill gathering they could hear,- 
Those thrilling sounds, that call the might 
Of old Clan-Alpine to the fight. 



14. 
Soft oro- Father of earth and heaven ! I call thy name ! 
tund. Round me the smoke and shout of battle roll ; 

' My eyes are dazzled by the rustling flame; — 
Father, sustain an untried soldier's soul. 
Or life, or death, whatever be the goal 
That crowns or closes round the struggling hour, 

Thou knowest, if ever from my spirit stole 
One deeper prayer, 'twas that no cloud might lower 
On my young fame! — O hear! God of eternal power. 

Loud oko- Now for the fight, — now for the cannon peal, — 
TUND. Forward, — through blood and toil and cloud and 

fire! 
Glorious the shout, the shock, the crash of steel. 
The voUey's roll, the rocket's blasting spire; 
They shake, — like broken waves their squares 
retire, — 
On them, hussars! — Now give them rein and heel; 

Think of the orphaned child, the murdered sire: — 
Earth cries for blood, — in thunder on them wheel! 
This hour to Europe's fate shall set the triumph-seal ! 



70 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 



QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION. 



What is elocution? 

What are words? 

How are vocal souuds represented? 

How are vocal sounds produced? 

How many letters in the English language? 

How many sounds have each letter? 

How are the letters divided ? 

How are the sounds divided? 

What are vowels? 

What are consonants? 

What are vocals? 

What are sub-vocals? 

What are aspirates? 

How many sounds has a? e? i? o? u? 

What is a compound vocal sound? 

Name them, and give the sounds of each one. 

How many sub-vocal sounds? Name them. 

How many aspirate sounds? 

What combination of sounds has q? x? 

How many sounds has c? Name them. 

What constitutes the pro^yer delivery of words? 

What is voice? 

What is expression? 

How is the voice cultivated? 

How should the breath be inhaled? 

Explain the active chest. 

Explain the passive chest? 

Explain how voice is produced. 



LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 71 

Where is the glottis? 
Where is the laniyx? what is its use? 
What is the pharynx? 

Ex23iain the position and use of the soft palate? 
What is pure tone? 
What is impure tone? 
AVhich quality of voice is more used ? 
W^hich is the most open vocal sound? 
What action of the luill places the vocal organs in 
position for pure tone? 

What is the diaphragm? 

What is articulation ? 

Explain the orotund voice? 

What are the rules to be obsei*ved? 

What does pitch signify? 

What compass should the speaking voice have? 

How is pitch produced? 

What does force relate to ? 

What are the degrees ? 

What is stress? 

How many forms has stress? 

What are they called? 

What is radical stress? 

What does it express? 

What is median stress? 

What does it express? 

What is vanishing stress? 

What does it express? 

What are the derivative forms of stress? 

What is thorough stress? 

AVhat is compound stress? 

What is intermittent stress? 

Explain the different movements of voice? 



72 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 

Explain quantity ? 

What are inflections? 

Explain the rising inflection? 

Explain the falling inflection ? 

Explain the circumflex inflection? 

What are pauses? 

Explain the grammatical pause? 

Explain the rhetorical pau>^e ? 

Explain parenthesis ? 

Explain emphasis? 

Explain cadence? 

What are impure tones? 

Explain the aspirate tone? 

Explain the guttural tone? 

Explain the falsetto tone? 

What should be observed in position? 

Explain countenance in reading? 

Explain gesture? 

What is expression? 

What is transition ? 



W 



LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 73 



HOW TO CRITICISE THE ELOCUTION OF A 
READER OR SPEAKER. 



1. Is the breath under perfect control? 

2. Is the voice clear, full, and resonant ? 

3. Is the articulation distinct and correct, with- 
out being too precise ? 

4. Is the mouth open enough to give full effect to 
the words, without mouthing ? 

5. Is the voice modulated correctly to suit the 
sentiment ? 

6. Is force used properly? 

7. Is the movement too fast or too slow, or two 
uniform ? 

8. Are inflections used properly? 

9. In narrative, are looks, tone, and manner as if 
relating the experience of the speaker ? 

10. In description, does the reader or speaker pro- 
ceed as if he had seen, heard, felt or known that 
which he describes ? 

11. Does the style appear affected? 

12. Are imitation and personation true to the 
character. 

13. Are the expression of the face, the position 
and gestures suited to the subject and the occasion. 



74 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION 



SELECTIONS. 



HAMLET'S mSTEUCTIOi^S. 

Speak the speech^ I pray jou, as I po^o-nounced it to 
you, trippingly on the tongue ; but if you mouth it, as 
many of your players do, 1 had as lief the town crier 
spoke my lines. Nor do not saw the air too much 
with your hand, thus; but use all gently : for in the 
very torrent, tempest, and (as I may say) whirlwind 
of your passion, you" must acquire and beget a tem- 
perance that may give it smoothness. Oh ! it offends 
me to the soul, to hear a robustious, periwig-pated 
fellow tear a passion to tatters, to very rags, to split 
the ears of the groundlings ; who for the most part, 
are capable of nothing but inexplicable dumb shows 
and noise. I would have a fellow whipped for o'er- 
doing Termagant ; it out-herods Herod ; pray you 
avoid it. 

Be not too tame neither, but let your own discre- 
tion be your tutor: suit the action to the word, the 
word to the action, with this special observance, that 
you o'erstep not the modesty of nature ; for anything 
so overdone is from the purpose of playing, whose 
end, both at the first, and now, was, and is, to hold, 
as 'twere, the mirror up to nature; to show virtue 
her own feature, scorn her own image, and the very 



LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 75 

tige and body ol' the time bis Ibrm and pressure. 
NoW; tbis overdone, or come tardy off, though it 
make the unskillful laugh, can not but make the 
judicious grieve ; the censure of the which one must, 
in your allowance, o'erweigh a whole theater of 
others. Oh there be players that I have seen play, 
— and heard others praise, and that highly, — not to 
speak it profanely, that, neither having the accent of 
Christians, nor the gait of Christian, pagan, or Turk, 
have so strutted and bellowed, that I have thought 
some of N^ature's journeymen had made men, and not 
made them well, they imitated humanity so abom- 
inably. — Sliahespeare . 

THE ELOCUTION OF THE PULPIT. 

I can not forbear regretting here, that a matter 
of such vast importance to preaching, as deliver}^, 
should be so generally neglected or misunderstood. 
A common apprehension prevails, indeed, that a 
strict regard to these rules would be deemed theatri- 
cal ; and the dread, perhaps, of incurring this imputa- 
tion is a restraint upon many. Bat is it not possible 
' to obtain a just and expressive manner, perfectly 
consistent with the gravity of the pulpit, and yet 
quite distinct from the more passionate, strong, and 
diversified action of the theatre ? And is it not pos- 
sible to hit off this manner so easily and naturally, 
as to leave no room for just reflection? An affair 
this, it must be owned, of the utmost delicacy ; in 
which we shall probably often miscarry, and meet 
with abundance of censure at first. But, still, I imagine, 
that through the regulations of taste, the improve- 



76 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 

ments of experience, the corrections of friendship, the 
feelings of piety, and the gradual mellowings of time, 
such an elocution may be acquired, as is above de- 
lineated ; and such as, wlcen acquired, will make its 
way to the hearts of the hearers, through their ears 
and eyes, with a delight to both that is seldom felt ; 
while, contrary to what is now practiced, it will ap- 
pear to the former the very language of nature, and 
present to the latter the lively image of the 'preacher's 
soul. Were a taste for this kind of elocution to take 
place, it is dif&cult to say how much the preaching 
art would gain by it. Pronunciation would be stud- 
ied, an ear would be formed, the voice would be 
modulated, every feature of the face, every motion 
of the hands, every posture of the body, would be 
brought under right management. A graceful, and 
correct, and animated expression in all these would 
be ambitiously sought after; mutual criticisms and 
friendly hints would be universally acknowledged ; 
light and direction would be borrowed from ever}" 
quarter, and from every age. The best models of 
antiquity would in a particular manner be admired, 
surveyed, and imitated. The sing-song voice, and 
the see-saw gestures, if I may be allowed to use 
those expressions, would, of course, be exploded ; 
and, in time, nothing would be admitted, at least ap- 
proved, among performers, ' but what was decent, 
manly, and truly excellent in kind. Even the people 
themselves would contract, insensibly, a growing 
relish -for such a manner; and'those j^reachers would 
at last be in chief repute with all, who followed 
nature, overlooked themselves, appeared totally ab- 
sorbed in the subject, and spoke with real propriety 
and pathos, from the immediate impulse of truth 
and virtue. — J amies Fordyce. 



LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 77 

THE CYNIC. 

The Cynic is one who never sees a good qiiaUty 
ill a man, and never fails to see a had one. He is the 
human owl, vigilcint in darkness and hlhid to light, 
mousing for vermin, and never seeing noble game. 

The Cynic puts all human actions into only 
two classes — oj^enly bad, and secretly bad. All virtue, 
and generosity, and disinterestedness, are merely the 
api^earance of good, but selfish at the bottom. He 
holds that no man does a good thing except for profit. 
The efi'ect of his conversation upon your feelings is 
to chill and sear them ; to send you away sour and 
morose. 

His criticisms and innuendoes fall indiscrim- 
inately upon every lovely tiling^ like frost upon the 
flowers. If Mr. A is pronounced a religious man, he 
will reply: yes^ on Sundays. Mr. B has joined the 
church : certainly ; the elections are coming on. The 
minister of the gospel is called an example of dili- 
gence : it is his trade. Such a man is generous : oj 
other mens money. This man is obliging : to lull sus- 
picion and cheat you. That man is upright : because 
he is green. 

Thus his eye strains out every good quality, and 
takes in only the bad. To him religion is hypocrisy, 
honesty a preparation for fraud, virtue only a want 
of opportunity, and undeniable purity, asceticism. 
The livelong day he will coolly sit with sneering lip, 
transfixing every character that is presented. 

It is impossible to indulge in such habitual 
severity of opinion upon our fellow-men, without in- 
juring the tenderness and delicacy of our own feel- 



78 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 

ings. A man will be what his most cherished feel- 
ings are. If he encourages a noble generosity, every 
feeling will be enriched by it ; if he nurse bitter and 
envenomed thoughts, his own spirit will absorb the 
poison, and he will crawl among men as a burnished 
adder, whose life is mischief, and Avhose errand is 
death. 

He who hunts for flowers, will find flowers ; 
and he who loves weeds, may find weeds. Let it be 
remembered that no man, who is not himscJf mortally 
diseased, will have a relish for disease in others. 
Reject^ tJien, the morhid ambition of the Cynic, or cease to 
call yourself a man. — -H. TF. Beecher. 



DEFINITION OF ELOQUENCE. 

When public bodies are to be addressed on mo- 
mentous occasions, when great interests are at stake, 
and strong passions excited, nothing is valuable in 
speech, farther than it is connected with high intel- 
lectual and moral endowments. Clearness, force, 
and earnestness are the qualities which produce con- 
viction. True eloquence indeed does not consist in 
speech ; it cannot be brought from far. Labor and 
learning may toil for it, but they toil for it in vain : 
words and phrases my be marshaled in every way, but 
they can not compass it : it must exist in the man, 
in the subject, and in the occasion. Aifected passion, 
intense expression, the pomp of declamation, — all 
may aspire after it ; they can not reach it : it comes, 
if it come at all, like the outbreaking of a fountain 
from the earth, or the bursting forth of volcanic fires, 
with spontaneous, original, native force. — Webster. 



LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 79 

SOCEATES SNOOKS. 

[ Personation, male and female. Be careful to give the distinction of 
the male and female voice. High pitch, vehement force, for female; 
low pitch, vehement force, for male.] 

Mister Socrates Snooks, a lord of creation, 

The second time entered the marriage relation : 

Xantippe Caloric accepted his hand, 

And they thought him the happiest man in the land. 

But scarce had the honeymoon passed over his head, 

When, one morning, to Xantippe, Socrates said, 

" I think, for a man of my standing in life, 

This house is too small, as I now have a wife : 

So, as early as possible, carpenter Gary 

Shall be sent for to widen my house and my dairy." 

" Now, Socrates, dearest," (Xantippe replied,) 

"I hate to hear everything vulgarly my\l; 

Now, whenever you speak of your chattels again, 

Say, ow cow-house, our barnyard, oui' pig-pen." 

" By you leave, Mrs. Snooks, I will say what I please 

OY my houses, my lands, my gardens, my trees." 

" Say our^^' Xantippe exclaimed in a rage. 

" I won't, Mrs. Snooks, though 3'ou ask it an age ! " 

Oh, woman ! though only a part of man's rib, 

(If the story in Genesis do n't tell a fib,) 

Should your naughty companion e'er quarrel with 

you, 
You are certain to prove the best man of the two. 
In the following case this was certainly true ; 
For the lovety Xantippe just pulled off her shoe, 
And laying about her, all sides at random. 
The adage was verified — ^^Nil desperaridum'' 



80 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 

Mister Socrates Snooks, after trying in vain, 
To ward off the blows that descended like rain, — 
Concluding that valor's best part was discretion, — 
Crept under the bed like a terrified Hessian : 
But the dauntless Xantippe, not one whit afraid. 
Converted the siege into a blockade. 

At last, after reasoning the thing in his pate, 

He concluded 't was useless to strive against fate ; 

And so, like a tortoise protruding his head. 

Said, "My dear, may we come out from under our 

bed?" 
" Hah ! hah ! " she exclaimed, " Mr. Socrates Snooks, 
I perceive you agree to my terms, by your looks : 
Now, Socrates, — hear me, — from this happy hour, 
If you'll only obey me, I'll never look sour." 
'Tis said the next Sabbath, ere going to church, 
He chanced for a clean pair of trowsers to search : 
Having found them, he asked, with a few nervous 

twitches, 
" My dear, may we put on our new Sunday breeches ? " 



EVENING AT THE FAllM. 

Over the hill the farm-boy goes. 

His shadow lengthens along the land, 

A giant staff in a giant hand ; 

In the poplar tree above the spring. 

The katy-did begins to sing ; 

The early dews are falling ; — 
Into the stone-heap darts the mink ; 
The swallows skim the river's brink ; 
And home to the woodland fly the crows. 



LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 81 

When over the hill the farm-bo}^ .goes. 
Cheerily calling, 

" Co', boss ! co', boss ! co' ! co' ! co' ! " 
Farther, farther over the hill, 
Faintly calling, calling still, 

^' Co', boss ! co', boss ! co' ! co' ! " 

Now to her task the milkmaid goes. 

The cattle come crowding through the gate, 

Looing, pushing, little and great ; 

About the trough, by the barn-yard pump, 

The frolicsome yearlings frisk and jump, 

While the pleasant dews are falling ; — 
The new milch heifer is quick and sh}^, 
But the old cow waits with tranquil eye, 
And the white stream into the bright pail flowS, 
When to her task the milkmaid goes. 
Soothingly calling, 
''So, boss! so, boss! so! so! so!" 
The cheerful milkmaid takes her stool, 
And sits and milks in the twilight cool. 
Saying, "So ! so, boss ! so ! so ! " 

To supper at last the farmer goes. 
The apples are pared, the paper read. 
The stories are told, then all to bed. 
Without, the crickets' ceaseless song 
Makes shrill the silence all night long ; 

The heavy dews are falling. 
The housewife's hand has turned the lock ; 
Drowsily ticks the kitchen clock ; 
The household sinks to deep repose, 



82 LESSONS TN ELOCUTION. 

But still^in sleep the farm- boy goes 
Singing, calling, 
"Co', boss! co', boss ! co' ! co' ! co'!" 
And oft the milkmaid in her dreams. 
Drums in the pail with the flashing streams, 
Murmuring, "So, boss ! so ! "' 

— J. T. Trowbridge. 



HAMLET'S SOLILOQUY. 

Hamlet : — To he, or not to be : that is the question : 
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer 
The stings and arrows of outrageous fortune. 
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, 
And by opposing end them? To die, — to sleej), — 
No more ; and by a sleep to say we end 
The heartache, and the thousand natural shocks 
That flesh is heir to, — 'tis a consummation 
Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep; 
To sleep! perchance to dream; — ay, there's the rub ; 
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come 
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, 
Must give u^ pause: there's the respect 
That makes calamity of so long life : 
For who would bear the whips and scoims of time, 
The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's co7itumely, 
The jjangs of despised love, the law's delay. 
The insolence of office, and the spurns 
That patient merit of the unworthy takes. 
When he himself might his quietus make 
With a bare hodkin? who v^ovldi fardels bear, 
To grunt and sweat under a weary life. 
But, that the dread of something after death, 



LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 83 

The undiscovered coiiiiUy I'rom whose bourne 

No traveler returns, puzzles the will, 

And makes us rather bear those ills we have 

Than fly to others that we know not of? 

Thus conscience does make cowards of us all ; 

And thus the native hue of resolution 

Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought ; 

And enterprises of great pith and moment, 

With this regard, their currents turn awry, 

And lose the name of action. 

— Shahespeare. 



A LEGEND OF BEEGENZ. 

Girt round with rugged mountains, the fair Lake 
Constance lies ; in her blue heart reflected shine back 
the starry skies ; and, watching each white cloudlet 
float silently and slow, you think a piece of heaven 
lies on our earth below ! 

Midnight is there ; and silence, enthroned in 
heaven, looks down upon her own calm mirror, upon 
a sleeping town : for Bregenz, that quaint city upon 
the Tyrol shore, has stood above Lake Constance a 
thousand years or nnore. Her battlements and tow- 
ers, from off their rocky steep, have cast their tremb- 
ling shadow for ages on the deep. Mountain, and 
lake, and valley, a sacred legend know, of how the 
town was saved, one night, three hundred years ago. 

Far from her home and kindred a Tyrol maid 
had fled, to serve in the Swiss valleys, and toil for 
daily bread ; and every year that fleeted so silently 
and fast, seemed to bear farther from her the mem- 
ory of the past. She served kind, gentle masters, 



84 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 

nor asked for rest or change ; her friends seemed no 
more new ones, their speech seemed no more strange; 
and when she led her cattle to pasture every day, 
she ceased to look and wonder on which side Bre- 
genz lay. She spoke no more of Bregenz, with long- 
ing and with tears ; her Tyrol home seemed faded in 
a deep mist of years. She heeded not the rumors 
of Austrian war and strife; each day she rose con- 
tented to the calm toils of life. Yet, when her mas- 
ter's children would clustering round her stand, she 
sang them ancient ballads of her own native land ; 
and when at morn and evening she knelt before 
God's throne, the accents of her childhood rose to 
her lips alone. 

And so she dwelt : the valley more peaceful year 
by year; when suddenly strange portents of some 
great deed seemed near. The golden corn was bend- 
ing upon its fragile stalk, while farmers, heedless of 
their fields, paced up and down in talk. The men 
seemed stern and altered, with looks cast on the 
ground ; with anxious faces, one by one, the women 
gathered round ; all talk of flax, or spinning, or 
work was put away ; the very children seemed 
afraid to go alone to play. 

One day, out in the meadow with strangers from 
the town, some secret plan discussing, the men 
walked up and down ; yet now and then seemed 
watching a strange, uncertain gleam, that looked like 
lances 'mid the trees that stood below the stream. 

At eve they all assembled, then care and doubt 
were fled ; with jovial laugh they feasted ; the board 
was nobly spread. The elder of the village rose up, 
his glass in hand, and cried, "We drink the downfall 



LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 85 

of an accursed land ! The night is growing darker, 
ere one more day is floAvn, Bregenz, our foemen's 
stronghold, Bregenz shall be our own !'" 

The women shrank in terror (yet pride, too, had 
her part), but one poor Tyrol maiden felt death 
within her heart. Before her stood fair Bregenz ; 
once more her towers arose ; what were the friends 
beside her ? Only her country's foes ! The faces of 
her kinsfolk, the days of childhood flown, the echoes 
of her mountains, reclaimed her as their own. jSToth- 
ing she heard around her (though shouts rang forth 
again) ; gone were the green Swiss valleys, the pas- 
ture and the plain ; before her eyes one vision, and 
in her heart one cry, that said, "Go forth, save 
Bregenz, and then, if need be, die !" 

With trembling haste and breathless, with noise- 
less step, she sped ; horses and weary cattle Avere 
standing in the shed ; she loosed the strong, white 
charger, that fed from out her hand, she mounted, 
and she turned his head toward her native land. 
Out — out into the darkness — faster, and still more 
fast ; the smooth grass flies behind her, the chestnut 
wood is past ; she looks up ; clouds are heavy ; why 
is her steed so slow? — scarcely the wind beside them 
can pass them as they go. 

"Faster!" she cries, "Oh, faster!" Eleven the 
church-bells chime: "O Grod," she cries, "help Bre- 
genz, and bring me there in time ! " But louder than 
bells' ringing, or lowing of the kine, grows nearer in 
the midnight the rushing of the Ehine. Shall not 
the roaring waters their headlong gallop check? 
The steed draws back in terror, — she leans upon his 
neck to watch the flowing darkness ; the bank is 



86 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 

high and steep ; one pause — ho staggers forward, 
and phmges m the deep. She strives to pierce the 
blackness, and looser throws the rein ; her steed 
must breast the waters that dash above his mane. 
How gallantly, how nobly, he struggles through the 
foam, and see — in the far distance shine out the 
lights of home ! Up the steep bank he bears her, 
and now they rush again toward the heights of Bre- 
genz, that tower above the plain. They reach the 
gate of Bregenz just as the midnight rings, and out 
come serf and soldier to meet the news she brings. 

Bregenz is saved ! Ere daylight her battlements 
are manned ; defiance greets the army that marches 
on the land. And if to deeds heroic should endless 
fame be paid, Bregenz does well to honor the noble 
Tyrol maid. 

Three hundred years are vanished, and yet upon 
the hill an old stone gateway rises, to do her honor 
still. And there, Avhen Bregenz women sit spinning 
in the shade, they see in quaint, old carving the 
Charger and the Maid. And when, to guard old 
Bregenz, by gateway, street, and tower, the warder 
paces all night long and calls each passing hour : 
"nine," "ten," "eleven," he cries aloud, and then (O 
crown of Fame !) when midnight pauses in the skies, 
he calls the maiden's name. — Adelaide Procter. 



CHAK-CO-0-AL ! 

[Char-co-o-al! Char-co-o-al ! Scale: 1—3—1—5; 5—3—1—5.] 

The chimney soot was falling fast. 
As through the streets and alleys passed 
A man who sang, with noise and din. 
This word of singular meaning, 

Char-co-o-al ! 



LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 87 

His face was grim, his DOse upturned. 
As if the very ground he spurned — 
And like a trumpet sound was heard. 
The accents of that awful word, 

Char-co-o-al ! 

In muddy streets he did descry 
The "moire antiques" held high and dry, 
With feet and ankles shown too well, 
And from his lips escaped a yell ! — 

Char-co-o-al ! 

"Don't go there ! " was the warning sound ; 
The pipes have all burst underground, 
Ttie raging torrent's deep and wide ; " 
But loud his trumpet voice replied, 

Char-co-o-al ! 

" Oh stop ! " good Biddy cried, " and lave 
A brimful peck upon this pave." 
A smile his inky face came o'er, 
And on he went with louder roar, 

Char-co-o-al ! 

"Beware of Main street crossing deep, 
Away from Walnut gutter keep ! " 
This was the sweeper's only greet, 
A voice replied far up the street, 

Char-co-o-al ! 

At set of sun, as homeward went, 
The joyous men of cent per cent, 
Counting the dollars in their till, 
A voice was heard, both loud and shrill, 
Char-co-o-al ! 



88 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 

A man upon the watchman's round, 
Half steeped in mud and ice was found, 
Shouting with voice, though not so strong, 
That awful word which heads my song, 
Char-co-o-al ! 

There in the gas-light, dim and gray. 
Dreaming unconsciously he lay, 
And from his nose, turned up still more. 
Came sounding like a thrilling snore — 

Char-co-o-al ! 



SUPPOSED SPEECH OF JOHN ADAMS. 

The war must go on. We must fight it through. 
And if the war must go on, why put off longer the 
Declaration of Independence? That measure will 
strengthen us. It will give us character abroad. 
Why then, sir, do we not, as soon as possible, change 
this from a civil to a national war? And since we 
must fight it through, why not put ourselves in a state 
to enjoy all the benefits of victory, if we gain the 
victory? If we fail, it can be no worse for us. But 
we shall not fail. The cause will raise up armies ; 
the cause will create navies. The people, — the people, 
if we are true to them, will carry us and will carry 
themselves gloriously through this struggle. 

I care not how fickle other people have been 
found. I know the people of these colonies ; and I 
know that resistance to British aggression is deep 
and settled in their hearts, and can not be eradicated. 
Every colony, indeed, has expressed its willingness 
to follow, if we but take the lead. Sir, the declara- 



LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 89 

tion will inspire the people with increased courage. 
Instead of a long and bloody war for restoration of 
privileges, for redress of grievances, for chartered 
immunities^ held under a British king, set before 
them the glorious object of entire independence, and 
it will breathe into them anew the breath of life. 

Eead this declaration at the head of the army; 
every sword will be drawn from its scabbard, and 
the solemn vow uttered, to maintain it or to perish 
on the bed of honor. Publish it from the pul])it ; re- 
ligion will approve it, and the love of religious liberty 
will cling round it, resolved to stand with it or fall 
with it. Send it to the public halls ; proclaim it there ; 
let them hear it, who heard the first roar of the 
enemy's cannon ; let them see it, who saAv their 
brothers and their sons fall on the field of Bunker 
Hill, and in the streets of Lexington and Concord, 
and the very walls will cry out in its support. 

Sir, I know the uncertainty of human aftairs ; 
but I see, I see clearly through this day's business. 
You and I, indeed, may rue it. We may not live to 
the time when this declaration shall be made good. 
We may die ; die colonists ; die slaves ; die, it may 
be, ignominiously, and on the scaffold. Be it so. 
Be it so. If it be the pleasure of Heaven that my 
country shall require the poor offering of my life, the 
victim shall be ready at the appointed hour of sac- 
nfice, come when that hour may. But while I do 
live, let me have a country (or at least the hope of a 
country), and that a/ree country. 

But whatever may be our fate, — be assured, be 
assured, that this declaration will stand. It may 
cost treasure, and it may cost blood ; but it will stand, 



90 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 

and it will richly compensate for both. Through the 
thick gloom of the present, I see the brightness of 
the future, as the sun in heaven. We shall make 
this a glorious^ an immortal day. When we are in 
our graves, our children will honor it. They will 
celebrate it with thanksgiving, with festivity, with 
bonfires, and illuminations. On its annual return 
they will shed, tears, copious, gushing tears, not of 
subjection and slavery, not of agony and distress, 
but of exultation, of gratitude, and of joy. 

Sir, before God, I believe the hour is come. 
My judgment approves this measure, and my whole 
heart is in it. All that I have, and all that I am, 
and all that I hope in this life, 1 am now ready here 
to stake upon it ; and I leave off as I began, that 
live or die, survive or perish, I am for the declara- 
tion. It is my living sentiment, and by the blessing 
of God it shall be my dying eentiment ; independence 
now ; and independence forever. — Webster. 



BUGLE SONG. 

[Dying, dying, dying, should be read with one breath, each word 
foAnter until almost inaudible.'] 

The splendor falls on castle walls. 

And snowy summits old in story 
The long light shakes across the lakes, 
And the wild cataract leaps in glory. 
Blow., hugle^ hloiv ; set the Avild echoes flying ; 
Bloiv, hugle ; answer, echoes, dying, dying., dying. 

O hark, O hear ! how thin and clear. 

And thinner, clearer, farther going ; 
O sweet and far, from cliff and scar. 
The horns of Elf-land faintly blowing ! 
Blow ; let us hear the purple glens replying ; 
Bloio, bugle ] answer, echoes, dying, dying ^ clying. 



LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 91 

O love, they die in yon rich sky, 

They faint on field, on hill, on river; 
Our echoes roll from soul to soul, 
And grow forever and forever. 
Blow, bugle, blow ; set the wild echoes flying, 
And answer, echoes, answer dying, dying, dying. 

— Tennyson. 



IGJSrOEAA^CE m OUE COUNTEY A CEIME. 

In all the dungeons of the old Avorld, where the 
strong champions of freedom are now pining in cap- 
tivity beneath the remorseless power of the tyrant, 
the morning sun does not send a glimmering ray 
into their cells, nor does night draw a thicker vail of 
darkness between them and the world, but the lone 
prisoner lifts his iron-laden arms to Heaven in prayer, 
that we, the depositaries of freedom and of human 
hopes, may be faithful to our sacred trust ; while, on 
the other hand, the pensioned advocates of despot- 
ism stand, with listening ear, to catch* the first sound 
of lawless violence that is wafted from our shores, to 
note the first breach of faith or act of perfidy among 
us, and to convert them into arguments against lib- 
erty and the rights of man. 

There is not a shout sent up by an insane mob, 
on this side of the Atlantic, but it is echoed by a 
thousand presses, and by ten thousand tongues, 
along every mountain and valley on the other. 
There is not a conflagration kindled here by the 
ruthless hand of violence, but its flame glares over 
all Europe, from horizon to zenith. On each occur- 
rence of a flagitious scene, whether It be an act of 



92 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 

turbulence and devastation, or a deed of perfidy or 
breach of faith, monarchs point them out as fruits 
of the growth and omens of the fate of republics, 
and claim for themselves and their heirs a further 
extension of the lease of despotism. 

The experience of the ages that are past, the 
hopes of the ages that are yet to come, unite their 
voices in an appeal to us ; they implore us to think, 
more of the character of our people than of its num- 
bers ; to look upon our vast natural resources, not as 
tempters to ostentation and pride, but as a means to 
be converted, by the refining alchemy of education, 
into mental and spiritual treasures ; they supplicate 
us to seek for whatever complacency or self-satisfac- 
tion we are disposed to indulge, not in the extent of 
our territory, or in the products of our soil, but in 
the expansion and perpetuation of the same means 
of human happiness ; they beseech us to exchange 
the luxuries of sense for the joys of charity, and thus 
give to the world the example of a nation whose 
Avisdom increases with its prosperity, and whose vir- 
tues are equal to its power. For these ends they en- 
join upon us a more earnest, a more universal, a 
more religious devotion to our exertions and re- 
sources, to the culture of the youthful mind and 
heart of the nation. Their gathered voices assert 
the eternal truth, that, in a republic^ ignorance is a 
crime ; and that private immorality is not less an 
opprobrium, to the state than is guilt in the perpetra- 
tor. — H. Mann. 



LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 

CHAEGE OF THE LIGHT BEIGADB. 

Half a league, half a league, 

Half a league onward, 
All in the valley of death 

Eode the six hundred. 
•' Forward the Light Brigade ! 
Charge for the guns," he said. 
Into the valley of death 

Eode the six hundred. 

" Forward the Light Brigade ! " 
Was there a man dismay'd? 
Not though the soldier knew 

Some one had bhc/ider'd; 
Theirs not to make reply, 
Theirs not to reason why. 
Theirs but to do and die. 
Into the valley of death 

Eode the six hundred. 

CanTwn to right of them. 
Cannon to left of them, 
Cannon in fi^ont of them, 

Volley' d and thunderd; 
Storm'd at with shot and shell, 
Boldly they rode and well, 
Into the jaws of death. 
Into the mouth of hell 

Eode the six hundred. 

FlasJid all their sabres bare, 
Flash'd as they turn'd in air, 
Sabring the gunners there, 



94 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 

Charging an army, while 

All the world wonder' d : 
Plunged in the battery-smoke, 
Right through the line they broke ; 

Cossack and Russian 
Reel'd from the sabre-stroke 

Shattered and sunder' d^ 
Then they rode back, but not — 

Not the six hundred. 

Cannon to right of them, 
Cannon to left of them, 
Cannon behind them 

Volley'' d and thunder d; 
Storm' d at with shot and shell. 
While horse and hero fell, 
They that had fought so well 
Came through the jaws of death. 
Back from the mouth of hell, 
All that was left of them ; 

Left of six hundred. 

When can their glory /acZe.? 

Oh, the wild charge they made ! 

All the world wonder' d. 
Honor the charge they made ! 
Honor the Light Brigade, 

Noble six hundred ! 

— Tennyson. 



FOURTH OF JULY ORATION. 

Fellow Citizens: — This is the ever adorable, 
commemorable, and patriotic Fourth of July. This 
am the day upon which the American Eagle first 
chawed up its iron cage, and, with a Yankee Doodle 
scream, pounced upon its affrighted tyrants and 



LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 95 

tore up their despotic habliments into a thousand 
giblets. 

This, fellow citizens, am the Fourth of July, — 
a day worthy to be the first day of the year, and a 
day which will be emblazoned by our latest posper- 
ity, when all other days have sunk into oblivious 
non compos mentis. 

This, fellow citizens, am the day when our 
ancestral progenitors unanimously fought, bled and 
died, in orclip.' that we and our children's children 
might cut their own vine and fig tree without being 
molested or daring to make any one afraid. 

This am the Fourth of July, fellow citizens, 
and who is there that can sit supinely downward on 
this prognostic anniversary, and not revert their 
mental reminisences to the great epochs of the Eev- 
olution — to the blood bespangled plains of Bunker 
Hill, Monmouth, Yorktown, and follow the heroic 
heroes of those times through trackless snows, and 
blood-stained deserts, to the eternal mansions of free 
trade and sailor's rights ; and the adorable enjoy- 
ments of the privileges and prerogatives, which fall 
like heavenly dew upon every American citizen, 
from the forests of Maine to the everglades of 
Florida ; and from the fisheries of the Atlantic coast 
to the yellow banks of California, where the jingling 
of the golden boulders mixes up with the screams of 
the catamount, and the mountain goat leaps from 
rock to rock — and — and where — and — and — I thank 
you, fellow citizens, for your considerable attention. 



96 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 

EXAMINATION OF A WITNESS. 

Judge. What do you follow for a livelihood? 

Witness. Nothing in particular, your honor. 

J. You do not appear to have any property ; 
how do you get your bread? 

W. Sometimes, sur, I get it at Mr. O'Tool's, 
sometimes at Dennis McFarland's, and sometimes at 
the grocery round the corner. 

J. Stop, you don't understand me ; I mean, how 
do you support yourself? 

W. I support myself on a chair, in the day-time, 
and on a bed in the night-time, sur. 

J. *I don't sit here to be trifled with by such fel- 
lows as you ! Are you a mechanic ? 

W. No, sur, I am a Presbyterian. 

J. Come, sir, if you don't answer my question, 
I '11 have you taken care of. 

W. Troth, and if yer honor will do that same, I 
shall be dapely obliged to you, for the times are so 
hard that I can hardly take care of myself. 

J. I believe you are an idle vagabond. 

W. Yer honor is very slow of belief, or you. 
would have found that out some time ago. 

J. What do you know of the case before the 
court? 

W. Nothing at all, sur. 

J. Then why do you stand there ? 

W. Because I have no chair in which to sit 
down, sur. 

J. Go about your business. 



LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 97 

INDUSTEY AND ELOQUENCE. 

In the ancient republics of Greece and Eome, 
oratory was a necessary branch of the finished edu- 
cation. A much smaller proportion of the citizens 
were educated than among us ; but of these a much 
larger number became orators. No man could hope 
for distinction or influence, and yet slight this art. 
The commanders of their armies were orators as well 
as soldiers, and ruled as well by their rhetorical as 
by their military skill. There was no trusting with 
them as with us, to a natural facility, or the acquisi- 
tion of an accidental fluency by occasional practice. 

They served an apprenticeship to the art. They 
passed through a regular course of instruction in 
schools. They submitted to long and laborious dis- 
cipline. They exercised themselves frequently, both 
before equals and in the presence of teachers, who 
criticised, reproved, rebuked, excited emulation, and 
left nothing undone which art and perseverance 
could accomplish. 

The greatest orators of antiquity, so far from 
being favored by natural tendencies, except, indeed, 
in their high intellectual endowments, had to struggle 
against natural obstacles ; and, instead of growing 
up spontaneously to their unrivaled eminence, they 
forced themselves forward by the most discouraging, 
artificial process. 

Demosthenes combated an imj^ediment in speech 
and an ungainliness of gesture, which, at first, drove 
him from the forum in disgrace. Cicero failed, at 
first, through weakness of lungs and an excessive 

7 



98 LteSSONS IN ELOCITTTON. 

vehemence of manner, which wearied the hearers 
and defeated his own purpose. These defects were 
conquered by study and discipline. He exiled him- 
self from home, and, during his absence in various 
lands, passed not a day without a rhetorical exercise, 
seeking the masters who were most severe in criti- 
cism, as the surest means of leading him to the per- 
fection at which he aimed. 

Such, too, was the education of their other great 
men. They were all, according to their ability and 
station, orators ; orators, not by nature or accident, 
but by education^ formed in a strict process of rhe- 
torical training. 

The inference to be drawn from these observa- 
tions is, that if so many of those who received an 
accomplished education, became accomplished ora- 
tors, because to become so was one purpose of their 
study ; then, it is in the power of a much larger pro- 
portion among us to form ourselves into creditable 
and accurate speakers. The inference should not be 
denied until proved false by experiment. 

Let this art be made an object of attention ; 
let young men train themselves to it faithfully and 
long; and if any of competent talents and tolerable 
science be found, at last, incapable of expressing 
themselves in a continued and connected discourse, 
so as to answer the ends of public speaking, then, and 
not till then, let it be said, that a peculiar talent, or 
natural aptitude, is requisite, the want of which must 
render effort vain : then, and not till then, let us ac- 
quiesce in this indolent and timorous notion, which 
contradicts the whole testimony of antiquity and all 
the experience of the world. — Wirt. 



LESSONS TN ELOCUTION-. 99 

THE BUENING SHIP. 

The storm o'er the ocean flew furious and fast, 

And the waves rose in foam at the voice of the blast, 

And heavily: labored the gale-beaten ship, 

Like a stout-hearted swimmer, the spray at his lip ; 

And dark was the sky o'er the mariners path. 

Save when the wild lightning illumined in wrath. 

A young mother knelt in the cabin below, 
And pressing her babe to her bosom of snow. 
She prayed to her God, 'mid the hurricane wild, 
"O Father, have mercy, look down on my child !' 
It passed, — the fierce whirlwind careered on its way. 
And the ship like an arrow divided the spray ; 
Her sails glimmered white in the beams of the moon, 
And the wind up aloft seemed to whistle a tune, — to 
whistle a tune. 

There was J03' in the ship as she furrowed the foam, 
For fond hearts within her were dreaming of home. 
The young mother pressed her .fond babe to her 

breast, 
And the husband sat cheerily down by her side. 
And looked with delight on the face of his bride, 
"Oh, happy," said he, "when our roaming is o'er. 
We '11 dwell in our cottage that stands by the shoi'e. 
Already in fancy its roof I descry, 
And the smoke of its hearth curling up to the sky ; 
Its garden so green, and its vine-covered wall ; 
The kind friends awaiting to welcome us all. 
And the children that sport by the old oaken tree." 
Ah gently the ship glided over the sea ! 
Hark ! what was that? Hark ! Hark to the shout ! 



100 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 

'^Fire!'' Then a tramp and a rout, and an upvoav 

of voices uprose on the air ; — 
And the mother knelt down, and the half-spoken 

prayer 
That she offered to God in her agony wild, 
Was, "Father, have mercy, look down on my child ! " 
She flew to her husband, she clung to his side. 
Oh ! there was her refuge whate'er might betide. 
" Fire / " " Fire / " It was raging above and below ; — 
And the cheeks of the sailors grew pale at the sight, 
And their eyes glistened wild in the glare of the light. 
'T was vain o'er the ravage the waters to drip ; 
The pitiless flame was the lord of the ship. 
And the smoke in thick wreaths mounted higher and 

higher. 
"O Grod ! it is fearful to perish by fire." 
Alone with destruction, alone on the sea, 
"Great Father of mercy, our hope is in thee." 

Sad at heart, and resigned, yet undaunted and brave. 
They lowered the boat, a mere speck on the wave. 
First entered the mother, enfolding her child : 
It knew she caressed it, looked upward and smiled. 
Cold, cold was the night as they drifted away. 
And mistily dawned o'er the pathway the day : — 
And they prayed for the light, and at noontide about, 
The sun o'er the waters shone joyously out. 

^- Ho ! a sail!''' ^^ Ho ! a sail!" cried the man at the 

lea, 
^'- Ho ! a sail!" and they turned their glad eyes o'er 

the sea. 
" They see us, they see us, the signal is waved ! 
They bear down upon us, they bear down upon us : 
Huzza! we are saved!' 



LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 101 



THE BELLS. 



SLEIGH BELLS. 

Hear the sledges with their bells, 
Silver hells ! 
What a world of merriment their melody forete^^s / 
How they tinhle^ tinJcle, tinkle, 

In the icy air of night, 
While the stars that oversprinkle, 
All the heavens seem to hvinkle 

With a crystaUme delight ; 
Keeping time, time, time, 
In a sort of Eunic rhyme, 
To the tintinnabulation that so musically we^fe 
From the hells, hells, hells. 
Bells, bells, bells. 
From the jingling and the tinkling of the bells. 

WEDDING BELLS. 

Hear the wedding bells — 
Golden hells! 
AVhat a world of happiness their harmony /b?'e^eZ/s/ 
Through the balmy air of night 
How they ring out their delight ! 
From the molten golden notes, 

And all in tune. 
What a liquid ditty floats, 
To the turtle dove that listens, when she gloa,ts 
On the moon ! 
Oh, from out the sounding cells 
What a gush of euphony voluminously ivells ! 
How it sivells! 
How it dwells — 



102 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 

On the future 1 How it tells 
Of the rapture that impels 
To the swinging and the ringing 
Of the hells, hells, hells, 

Of the BELLS, BELLS, BELLS, BELLS, 

Bells, bells, bells ! 
To the rhyming and the chiming of the hells. 

fire bells. 

Hear the loud alarum hells — 
Brazen hells, 
What a tale of terror now their turhulency tells ! 
In the startled ear of night, 
How they scream out their affright ! 
Too much horrified to speak, 
They can only shriek, shriek 
Out of tune, 
In a clamorous appealing to the mercy of the fire ! 
In a mad expostulation with the deaf and frantic ^re, 
Leaping, higher, higher, higher 
With a desperate desire ; 
And a resolute endeavour, 
Now, noio to sit or never 
By the side of the pale-faced moon ! 
Oh, the hells, hells, hells, 
What a tale their terror tells 
Of despair! 
How they clang and clash and roar, 
What a horror they ouipou/r 
On the bosom of the palpitating air ! 
Yet the ear it fully knows 
By the twanging 
And the clanging, 



LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 103 

How the danger sinks and swells^ 
By the sinking or the swelling or the anger of the 
bells ; 
Of the hells— 
Of the bells^ bells^ bells, bells, 
Bells, bells, bells, 
In the clamor and the clangor of the bells ! 

funeral bells. 

Hear the tolling of the bells, 
Iron bells. 
What a world of solemn thought their monody com- 
pel ! 
In the silence of the night ; 
How we shiver with affright, 
At the melancholy menace of their tone! 
For every sound that floats 
From the rust within their throats 

Is a groan. 
And the people — ah, the people — 
They dwell up in the steeple, 

All alone ! 
And who tolling, tolling, tolling 

In that muffled monotone^ 
Feel a glory in so rolling 

On the human heart a stone. 
They are neither man nor woman — 
They are neither brute nor human — 

They are ghouls. 
And their king it is who tolls, 
And he rolls, rolls, rolls, rolls, 

A poean from the bells ! 
And his merry bosom swells 



104 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 

With the 'poe,an of the hells ! 
And he dances and he yells ; 
Keeping time, time, time, 
In a sort of Bunic rhyme, 

To the pcean of the hells — 
O^ihQ hells; 
Keeping time, time, time, 
In a sort of Eunic rhyme, 

To the throhhing of the hells, 
Of the hells, hells, hells, 

To the sohhing of the hells, 
Keeping time, time, time. 

As he hnells, hnells, knells. 
In a happy Eunic rhyme, 

To the rolling of the hells — 
Of the hells, hells, hells — 

To the tolling of the hells, 
Of the hells, hells, hells, hells — 



To the moaning and the groaning of the bells. 

— Edgar A. Poe. 



JIMMY BUTLEE AND THE OWL. 

[An impersonation. "Who! Wliool Whoool" should be given with 
high pitch, descending slides, and tremulous stress on "Whoool"] 

'Twas in the summer of '46 that I landed at 
Hamilton, fresh as a new pratie just dug from the 
"ould sod," and wid a light heart and a heavy bun- 
dle I sot off for the township of Buford, tiding a taste 
of a song, as merry a young fellow as iver took the 
road. Well I trudged on and on, past many a plisint 
place, pleasin' myself wid the thought that some day 



LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 105 

I might have a place of my own, wid a world of 
chickens and ducks and pigs and childer about the 
door; and along in the afternoon of the sicond day 
I got to Buford village. A cousin of me mother's, 
one Dennis O'Dowd, lived about sivin miles from 
there, and I wanted to make his place that night ; 
so I inquired the way at the tavern, and was lucky 
to find a man who was goin' part of the way an' 
would show me the way to find Dennis. Sure he 
was very kind indade, an' when I got out of his 
wagon he pointed me through the wood and tould 
me to go straight south a mile an' a half, and the 
first house would be Dennis's. 

"An' you've no time to lose now," said he, "for 
the sun is low, and mind you don't get lost in the 
woods." 

"Is it lost now," said I, "that I'd be gittin, an' 
me uncle as great a navigator as iver steered a ship 
across the thrackless say ! 'Not a bit of it, though 
I 'm obleeged to ye for your kind advice, and thank 
yiz for the ride." 

An' wid that he drove off an' left me alone. I 
shouldered me bundle bravely, an' whistlin' a bit of 
time for company like, I pushed into the bush. Well, 
I went a long way over bogs, and turnin' round 
among the bush an' trees till I began to think I must 
be well nigh to Dennis's. But, bad cess to it ! all of 
a sudden I came out of the woods at the very 
identical spot where I started in, which I knew by 
an ould crotched tree that seemed to be standin' on 
its head and|kickin' up its heels to make divarsion 
of me. By this time it was growin' dark, and as 
there was no time to lose, I started in a second time, 



106 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 

determiued to keep straight south this time, and 
make no mistake. I got on bravely for awhile, but 
och hone ! och hone ! it got so dark I couldn't see 
the trees, and I bumped me nose and barked me 
shins, while the miskaties bit me hands and face to 
a blister; an' after tumblin' and stumblin' around till 
I was fairly bamboozled, I sat down on a log all of a 
trimble, to think that I was lost intirely, an' that 
maybe a lion or some other wild craythur would 
devour me before morning. 

Just then I heard somebody a long way oif say, 
" Whip poor Will ! Whip poor Will ! " "Bedad," sez 
I, "I'm glad it isn't Jamie that's got to take it, 
though it's more in sorrow than in anger they are 
doin' it, or why should they say 'poor Will?' an' 
sure they can 't be Injun, haythin, or naygur, for it 's 
plain English they're afther spakin'. Maybe they 
might help me out o' this," so I shouted at the top of 
my voice, "A lost man ! " Then I listened. Prisently 
an answer came. 

"Who? Whoo? Whooo?" 

"Jamie Butler, the waiver!" sez I, as loud as I 
could roar, an' snatchin' up me bundle an' stick, I 
started in the direction of the voice. Whin I thought 
1 had got near the place, I stopped and shouted 
again, "A lost man ! " 

"Who ! Whoo ! Whooo ! " said a voice right over 
my head. 

"Sure," thinks I, "it's a mighty quare place for 
a man to be at this time of night ; maybe it 's some 
settler scrapin' sugar off a sugar-bush for the chil- 
dren's breakfast in the mornin'. But Avhere's Will 
and the rest of them?" All this went through me 
head like a flash, an' thin I answered his inquiiy. 



LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 107 

"Jamie Butler, the waiver," eez I; "and if it 
wouldn't inconvanience yer honor, would yez be kind 
enough to step down and show me the way to the 
house of Dennis O'Dowd?" 

"Who! Whoo! Whooo ! " sez he. 

"Dennis O'Dowd," sez I, civil enough, "and a 
dacent man he is, and first cousin to my own mother." 

" Who ! Whoo ! Whooo ! " sez he again. 

"Me mother!" sez I, "and as fine a woman as 
iver peeled a biled pratie wid her thumb nail, and 
her maiden name was Molly McFiggin." 

"Who! Whoo! Whooo!" 

" Paddy McFiggin ! bad luck to yer deaf old head, 
Paddy McFiggin, I say — do you hear that? An' he 
was the tallest man in all the county Tipperary, 
excipt Jim Doyle, the blacksmith." 

"Who! Whoo! Whooo!" 

"Jim Doyle, the blacksmith," sez I, "ye good for 
nothin' blaggurd naygur, and if yiz do n't come down 
and show me the way this min't, I'll climb up there 
and break every bone in your skin, ye spalpeen, so 
sure as me name is Jimmy Butler ! " 

"Who! Whoo! Whooo!" sez he, as impident as 
iver. 

I said never a word, but lavin' down me bundle, 
and takin' me stick in me teeth, I began to climb 
the tree. Whin I got among the branches I looked 
quietly around till I saw a pair of big eyes just for- 
ninst me. 

"Whist," sez I, "and I'll let him have a taste of 
an Irish stick," and wid that I let drive and lost me 
balance an' came tumblin' to the ground, nearly 
breakin' me neck wid the fall. When I came to mo 



108 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 

sinsis I had a very sore head wid a lump on it like a 
goose egg, and half of me Smiday coat-tail torn off 
intirely. I spoke to the chap in the tree, but could 
git niver an answer, at all, at all. 

Sure, thinks I, he must have gone home to rowl 
up his head, for by the poAvers I didn't throw me 
stick for nothin'. 

Well, by this time the moon was up and I could 
see a little, and I detarmined to make one more 
eifort to reach Dennis's. 

I wint on cautiously for awhile, an' thin I heard 
a bell. "Sure," sez I, "I'm comin' to a settlement 
now, for I hear the church bell." I kept on toward 
the sound till I came to an ould cow wid a bell on. 
She started to run, but I was too quick for her, and 
got her by the tail and hung on, thinkin' that maybe 
she would take me out of the woods. On we wint, 
like an ould country steeple-chase, till, sure enough, 
we came out to a clearin' and a house in sight wid a 
light in it. So, leavin' the ould cow puffin' and 
blowin' in a shed, I went to the house, and as luck 
would have it, whose should it be but Dennis's. 

He gave me a raal Irish welcome, and introduced 
me to his two daughters — as purty a pair of girls as 
iver ye clapped an eye on. Eut whin I told him me 
adventure in the woods, and about the fellow who 
made fun of me, they all laughed and roared, and 
Dennis said it was an owl. 

"An ould what?" sez I. 

"Why, an owl, a bird," sez he. 

"Do ye tell me now?" sez I, "Sure it's a quare 
country and a quare biird." 

And thin they all laughed again, till at last I 



LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 109 

laughed myself, that hearty like, and dropped right 
into a chair between the two purty girls, and the oiild 
chap winked at me and roared again. 

Dennis is my father-in-law now, and he often yet 
delights to tell our children about their daddy's 
adventure with the owl. 



¥ 



CLAEENCE'S DEE AM. 

Clarence. — My dream was lengthen'd after life ; 
Oh, then began the temjyest to vaj soul! 
I passed, methought, the melancholy flood 
With that grim ferryman, which 2)oets write of, 
Unto the kingdom of perpetual night. 
The first that there did greet my stranger soul 
Was my great father-in-law, renowned Warwick, 
Who cried, — " What scourge for perjury 
Can this dark monarchy afford /a^se Clarence?" 
And so he vanished ; then came wandering by 
A shadow like an angel, with bright hair 
Dabbled in blood ; and he shriek' d out aloud, 
"Clarence is come — false, fleeting, perjured 
Clarence, 
That stabb'd me, in the field by Tewkesbury. 
Seize on him. Furies ; take him into torments ! ''' 
With that, methought a legion of foul fiends 
Environ'd me, and hoided in mine ears 
Such hideous cries, that with the very noise 
I trembling wak'd, and for a season after 
Could not believe but that I was in hell ! 
Such terrible impression made my dream. 
Oh, Brackenbury, I have done those things 
That now give evidence against the soul^ 



110 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 

For Edward's sake ; and see how he requites me! 

Oh, God if my deep ^:>ra?/ers cannot appease Thee, 

But Thou wilt be avenged on my misdeeds^ 

Yet execute Thy wrath on me alone ; 

Oh, spare my guiltless wife and my poor children! 

I pray thee, gentle keeper, stay by me ; 

My soul is heavy, and I fain would sleep. 

— Shakespeare. 

THE CHARCOAL MAX. 

[ Conversational, with calling voice varied in adaptation to the sense 
—loud or low, near or distant, as required.] 

Though rudely blows the wintry blast, 
And sifting snows fall white and fast, 
Mark Haley drives along the street, 
Perched high upon his wagon seat ; 
His sombre face the storm defies. 
And thus from morn till eve he cries — 

" Charco' I charco' ! " 
While echo faint and far replies — 

"Hark, 01 hark, 0!" 
"Charco' !" — "Hark, O !" — Such cheery sounds. 
Attend him on his daily rounds. 

The dust begrimes his ancient hat ; 

His coat is darker far than that ; 

'Tis odd to see his sooty form 

All speckled with the feathery storm. 

Yet in his honest bosom lies 

No spot, nor speck — though still he cries, 

" Charco' ! charco' ! " 
And many a roguish lad replies — 

"Ark, ho ! ark, ho !" 
" Charco' ! " — " Ark, ho ! " — Such various sounds 
Announce Mark Haley's morning rounds. 



LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. HI 

Thus all the cold and wintry day 
He labors much for little pay. 
Yet feels no less of happiness 
Than many a richer man. I guess. 
When through the shades of eve he spies 
The light of his own home, and cries — 

" Charco' ! charco' ! " 
And Martha from the door re])lies — 

'-Mark, ho! Mark, ho!" 
' Charco ! ' — "Mark, ho ! " — Such joy abounds 
When he has closed his daily rounds. 

The hearth is warm, the fire is bright ; 

And while his hand, washed clean and white, 

Holds Martha's tender hand once more, 

His glowing face bends fondly o'er 

The crib wherein his darling lies. 

And in a coaxing tone he cries, 

"Charco' ! charco' !'" 
And baby with a laugh replies — 

"Ah, go ! ah, go !" 
' Charco' ! " — "Ah, go ! " — while at the sounds 
The mother's heart with gladness bounds. 

Then honored be the charcoal man. 
Though dusky as an African. 
'Tis not for you that chance to be 
A little better clad than he. 
His honest manhood to despise. 
Although from morn till eve he cries — 

" Charco' ! charco' ! " 
While mocking echo still replies — 

"Hark, O^! hark, O!" 
•' Charco' ! " — " Hark, O ! " — Long may the sounds 
Proclaim Mark Haley's daily rounds ! 

—J. T. Trowhridge. 



112 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 



THE BELLS OF SHAKDON. 

[The church of Shandon is built on the ruins of Shandon Castle, and 
is a prominent object to the traveler as he approaches the city of Cork 
from any direction. Father Prout, or the Rev. Francis Mahoney, which 
was his true name, was a native of Cork.] 

With deep affection and recollection, 

I often think of those Shandon bells. 

Whose sounds so wild would, in days of childhood, 

Fling round my cradle their magic spell. 

On this I ponder where'er I wander. 

And thus grow fonder, sweet Cork, of thee. 

With thy bells of Shandon 

That sound so grand on 
The pleasant waters of the river Lee. 

I Ve heard bell's tolling " old Adrian's Mole in," 

Their thunder rolling from the Yatican, 

And cymbals glorious, swinging uproarious 

In the gorgeous turrets of Notre Dame : 

But thy sound was sweeter than the dome of Peter 

Flings o'er the Tiber, pealing solemnly. 

O ! the bells of Shandon 

Sound far more grand on 
The pleasant waters of the river Lee. 

There's a bell in Moscow, while on tower and kiosko 

In St. Sophia the Turkman gets. 

And loud in air calls men to prayer 

From the tapering summit of tall minarets. 

Such empty phantoms, I freely grant them ; 

But there's an anthem more dear to me, — 

'Tis the bells of Shandon, 

That sound so grand on 
The pleasant waters of the river Lee. 

— Father Prout. 



LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 113 

THE CATAEACT OF LODOEE. 

[Rapid Movement.] 

How does the water 
Come down at Lodore ? 

From its sources which well 
In the tarn on the fell ; 

From its fountains 

In the mountains, 
Its rills and its gills ; 

Through moss and through brake 
It runs and it creeps, 
For a while, till it sleeps 

In its own little lake. 
And thence at departing, 
Awakening and starting. 
It runs through the reeds. 
And away it proceeds, 
Through meadow and glade, 
In sun and in shade, 
And through the wood-shelter, 

Among crags in its flurry, 
Helter-skelter, 

Hurry- skurry. 

Here it comes sparkling. 
And there it lies darkling ; 
JS'ow smoking and frothing, 
Its tumult and wrath in, 
Till in this rapid race, 

On which it is bent, 
It reaches the place 

Of its steep descent. 



114 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 

The cataract strong 
Then plumges along, 
Striking and raging, 
As if a war waging 
Its caverns and rocks among ; 
Spouting and frisking, 
Turning and twisting, 
Around and around 
With endless rebound : 
Smiting and fighting, 
A sight to delight in. 
Confounding, astounding, 
Dizzying and deafening the ear with its sound. 

Eetreating and beating and meeting and sheeting, 
Delaying and straying and playing and spraying. 
Advancing and prancing and glancing and dancing, 
And gleaming and streaming and steaming and 

beaming. 
And dashing and flashing and splashing^and clashing, 
And so never ending, but always descending. 
Sounds and motions forever and ever are blending. 
All at once and all o'er, with a mighty uproar : 
And this way, the water comes down at Lodore. 



NOBODY'S CHILD. 

[This should be rendered in the tender, pathetic voice of a child, 
and, when so given, it is exquisitely beautiful. The sad, touching voice 
should kindle with expectation at the close.] 

Alone in the dreary, pitiless street, 
With my torn old dress, and bare cold feet, 
All day have I wandered to and fro. 
Hungry and shivering, and no where to go : 



LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 115 

The night's coming on in darkness and dread, 
And the chill sleet beating upon my bare head. 
Oh ! why does the wind blow upon me so wild? 
Is it because I am nobody's child? 

Just over the way there's a flood of light, 

And warmth, and beauty, and all things bright ; 

Beautiful children, in robes so fair, 

Are caroling songs in their rapture there. 

1 wonder if they, in their blissful glee. 

Would pity a poor little beggar like me, 

Wandering alone in the merciless street, 

[Naked and shivering, and nothing to eat? 

Oh ! what shall I do when the night comes down 

In its terrible blackness all over the town? 

Shall I lay me down 'neath the angry sky. 

On the cold hard pavement, alone to die. 

When the beautiful children their prayers have said. 

And their mammas have tucked them up snugly in 

bed? 
For no dear mother on me ever smiled. 
Why is it, I wonder, I'm nobody's child? 

No father, no mother, no sister, not one 
In all the world loves me, e'en the little dogs run 
When I wander too near them ; 'tis wondrous to see 
How everything shrinks from a beggar like me ! 
Perhaps 'tis a dream ; but sometimes, when I lie 
Gazing far up in the dark blue sky. 
Watching for hours some large bright star, 
Ffancy the beautiful gates are ajar. 



116 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 

And a host of whitc-robod, nameless things, 

Come fluttering o'er me on gilded wings ; 

A hand that is strangely soft and fair 

Caresses gently my tangled hair, 

And a voice like the carol of some wild bird — 

The sweetest voice that was ever heard — 

Calls me many a dear, pet name. 

Till my heart and spirit are all aflame. 

They tell me of such unbounded love, 
And bid me come up to their home above ; 
And then with such pitiful, sad surprise, 
They look at me with their sweet tender eyes, 
And it seems to me, out of the dreary night 
I am going up to that world of light ; 
And away from the hunger and storm so wild 
1 am sure I shall then be somebody's child. 

—Phila H. 



W 



LESSONS IN ELUCUTIUN. 117 



APPENDIX. 



WORDS OFTEN MISPRONOUNCED. 
A. 
abdomen, ab-do'men, not ab'do-men. 
abjectly, ab'ject-ll, not ab-ject'lT. 
abstractly, ab'strakt-li or ab-strakt'll, 
acclimate, ak-kli'mat, not ak'kli-mat. 
acorn, a'korn, not a'kurn. 
acoustics, a-kows'tiks, not a-kOGs'tiks. 
adverse, adVers. not ad -vers'. 
aggrandize, ag'gran-diz, not ag-gran'dlz. 
aliment, ari-ment, not ari-ment. 
allopathy, al-lop'a-thi, not al'lo-path-i. 
almond, a'mund, not al'mund. 
alpaca, al-pak'a, not al-a-pak'a. 
amatenr, am-a-tur' or am-a-tur', not am'a-toor. 
anchovy, an-choVi, not an'cho-vi nor an-ko'vT. 
antepenult, an-te-pe-nult', not an-te-pe'nult. 
apostle, a-pos'l, not a-pos'tl nor a-paws'l. 
Appalachian, ap-pa-la'chl-an, not ap-pa-la'ki-an nor 

ap-pa-lak'T-an. 
apparatus, ap-pa-ra'tus, not ap-pa-ra'tus. 
area, a're-a, not a-re'a. 
arid, Sr'id, ont ar'id nor a'rid. 
arquebuse, ar'kwe-btis, not ar'kwe-bus. 



118 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 

Asia, a'shi-a, not a'zha nor a'zhe-a. 

aspirant, as-plr'ant, not as'pi-rant. 

asymptote, as'imp-tot, not as-imp'tot, 

athenfeiim, ath-e-ne'um, not a-the'iie-um. 

attacked, at-takt', not at-tak'ted. 

audacious, aw-da'shus, not aw-dash'us ?ioraw-da'shus. 

aunt, ant, not ant. 

B. 
badinage, bad-I-nazh' or bad-1-nazh, not bad'in-aj. 
banana, ba-nana or ba-na'na. 
bastile, bas-tel' or bas'tel. 
bath, bath, not bath-. 
Beelzebub, be-el'ze-bub, not bePze-bub. 
begone, be-gon', not be-gawn'. 
belialf, be-haf , not be-haf. 
behemoth, be'he-moth, not be-he'moth. 
Belial, b^l'yal or be'li-al. 
bellows, bel'lus, not berioz. 
beneath, be-ne^7i', not be-neth'. 
benzine, ben'zin, commonly ben-zsn'. 
blackguard, blag'ard, 7iot bhik'gard. 
blatant, bla'tant, not blat'ant. 
blouse, blowz, not blows. 
bomb, bum, not bom. 
borealis, bo-re-alis, not bo-re-a'lis. 
bouquet, boo-ka' or booka, not bo-ka'. 
bramin, bra min, not bra'min. 
bravado, bra-va do, not bra-va'do. 
bromide, bro'mid, not bro'mld. 
bromine, bro'min, not bro'mln. 
bronchitis, bron-kl'tis, not bron-ke'tis. 
brothel, bro^A'el, not broth'el. 
brougham, broo'am or broom. 



LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 119 

C. 

caisson, kas'son or ka-soon'. 

Calliope, kall-li'o-pe, not kal-li-6'pe. 

canaille [Fr.], ka-nal' or ka-nail, not ka-nel'. 

cantata [Fr.], kan-tata or kan-ta ta. 

carbine, kar'bin, not kar'bin. 

caret, ka'ret, not kar'et. 

Caribbean, kar-Ib-be'an, not ka-rib'be-an. 

cassimere, kas'si-mer, not kaz-i-mer. 

Cassiopea, kas-si-o-pe'a, not kas-si-o'pe-a. 

casualty, kazh'u-al-ti, not kazh-u-al'i-ti. 

catch, kach, not kech. 

catechumen, kat-e-ku'men, not kat-e-chn'men. 

Caucasian, kaw-ka'shan, not kaw-kasli'an. 

cayenne, ka-en', not kl-en' nor ki-an'. 

cemetery, sem'e-tgr-i, not sem'e-tri. 

cerate, se'rat, not ser'at. 

cerements, ser'ments, not ser'e-ments. 

chaldron, chawl'drun or chal'droii. 

chalybeate, ka-lib'e-at, not cha-lib'e-at. 

cham, kam, not cham. 

chasten, chas'n, not chas'n. 

chastisement, chas'tiz-ment, not cbas-tiz'ment. 

chloride, klo'rld, not klo'rid. 

chlorine, klo'rm, not klo'rln. 

cinchona, sin-ko'na, not sin-cho'na. 

circuitious, sur-ku'it-us, not sur'kit-us. 

coadjutor, ko-ad-ju'tor, not ko-aj'u-tor. 

cockatrice, kok'a-trlce, not kok'a-tris. 

cotfee, kof'e, not kaw'fe. 

coffin, kof in, not kawf in. 

COlchicum, kol'ki-kum, or korchi-kum. 

comatose, ko'ma-tos or kom-a-tos'. 



120 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 

COmbatiye, kom'ba-tiv or kum'ba-tiv, not kom-bat'iv. 
COnilUUllist, kom'iiui-iiist, not kom-niu'nist. 
complaisance, kom-pla-zance' or kom'pLa-zance, not 

koni-pla'sance. 
complaisant, kom-pla-zant' or kom'pla-zant, not 

kom-pla'sant. 
comrade, kom'rad, not kora'rad nor kum'rad. 
concubinage, kon-ku'bi-naj, not kon'ku-bl-naj. 
confidant, kon-fi-dant', not kon'fi-dant. 
connoisseur, kon-nis-sur' or kon-nis-sur'. 
conversant, konVer-sant. not kon-ver'sant. 
coquetry, ko-ket'ri, not ko'ket-ri. 
corollary, kor'ol-la-ri, not ko-rolla-ri. 
corridor, kor'ri-dor, not kor'ri-dor. 
cotyledon, kot-i-led'on, not ko-ti-le'don. 
COtyledonous, kot-i-led'on-us or ko-ti-le'don-us. 
courier, koo'ri-er^ not kur'ri-er nor koo'rer. 
cuirass, kwe-ras' or kwe'ras. 
curator, ku-ra'tor, not ku'ra-tor. 
cushion, koosh'un, not kwish-im. 
Cyclopean, si-klo-pe'an, not si-kio'pe-an. 

D. 

deaf, dgf, not dsf. 

decade, dek ad, not dek-ad'. 

defalcate? de-fal'kat, not def'al-kat nor de fawl'kat. 

deficit, def'i-sit, not de-fis'it. 

depot, de-po' or da-po'. 

despicable, des'pi-ka-bl, not des-pik'a-bl. 

ditersis, dl-Sr'e-sis, not di-e-re'sis. 

didactic, di-dak'tik, not dl-dak'tik. 

diphtheria, dif-the'ri-a, not dip-the'ri-a. 

disfranchise, dis-fran'chtz, not dis-fran'chlz. 



LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 121 

dishevelled, di-shov'kl, not (lis-hcY'Id. 

divaricate, dl-vai-'i-kat, not di-vari-lvut. 

docile, dos'il, not do'sll. 

dog, dug, not dawg. 

donative, don'a-tiv, not don'a-tiv. 

dross, dros, not draws. 

ducat, duk'at, not dti'kat. 

B. 
e'er, ^r, not er. 
endive, en'div, not en'div. 
enervate, e-nerVat, not en'er-vat. 
enfranchise, en-fran'chiz, not eii-fran'chTz. 
ennui, an- we' or ong-we', not 611 1^' we. 
epicurean, ep-i-ku-re'an, not ep-l-ku're-aii. 
equipage, ek'wi-pej, not e-kwip'ej. 
ere, ar, not er. 
every, ev'er-i, not ev'rl. 
exacerbate, egz-as'erbat, not eks-a-ser'bat. 
extol, eks-tol', not eks-tol'. 
extra, eks'tra, not eks-tri. 

F. 
facade, fa-sad' or fa-sad'. 

falchion, fawrchun or fawl'shun, not farciimi. 
falcou, faw'kn, not fal'kn. 
faro, far'o, not far'o nor fa'ro. 
fecund, fek'und, not fe'kund. 
feotf, f Sf, not fe'of nor fef. 

finale, fe-na'le, not fi'nal. . 

finance, fi-nance', not fi'nance. 
financier, fin-an-ser', not fi-nan-ser^. 
flaccid, flak'sid, 7iot flas'id. 
flaunt, flant, ?to^ fiawnt. 



122 LKSSONS IN ELOCUTION. 

Florentine, flor'cu-tln or flor'cn-tin, not flor'cii-ten. 

florist, flo'i'ist, not fiur'ist. 

forge, iorj, not fawrj. 

fragmentary, frao-'men-a-ri, not frag-ment'a-ii. 

franchise, fran'chiz, not fran'chlz. 

fraternize, fra-ter'nlz, not fra'ter-niz. 

fulcrum, fiircrum, not foorcrum. 

fulsome, ful'sum, not foorsum. 

furniture, fur'nit-yoor, colloquially^ fur'ni-choor. 

G. 
gape, gap or gap, not gap. 
gaunt, gant, not gawnt. 
ghoul, gool, not gowl. 
giaour, jowr, not joor. 
glacier, glas'i-er, not gla'ser. 
God, god, not gawd. 
granary, gran'a-rl, not gran'a-rl. 
gratis, gra'tis, not gra tis. 
grimy, grl'mi, not grim'i. 
grOat, grawt, not grot. 

guardian, gard'i-an, not gar-den' nor gar jan. 
guillotine, gil-o-ten', not gil'o-tin. 

H. 
halve, hav, not hav. 
harem, ha'rem, not har'em. 
Hebe, tie'be, not heb. 
height, bit, not bltb. 
hemistich, bem'i-stik, not bem'i-stich. 
hibernate, bi'ber-nat, not hi-ber'nat. 
hollyhock, bol'li-hock, not bol'li-hawk. 
horizon, bo-ri'zim, not hor'i-zn. 
horrid, bijr'id, not hawr'id. 



LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 123 

hospital, hos'pi-tal, r?o< os'pi-tal nor baws'pi-tl. 

hostage, bos'taj, not haws'taj. 

hostler, os'ler or hos'ler, not haws'lcr. In England 

os'ler only is approved. 
hurrah, hoor-ra , not hur-raw'. 
hussar, hobz-zar', not huz-zar'. 
huzza, bob-za , not buz-a. 
hydropathy, bi-drop'a-tbi, not bi'dro-patb-i. 
hyperbole, bi-per'bo-le, not bi'per-bol. 



impiously, im'pi-us-li, not im-pi'us-li. 

imprimatur, im-pri-ma'tur, not im-prl-ma'tur. 

iuchoate, ing'ko-at or in'ko-at. 

indigenous, in-dij'e-nus, not in-dig'e-nus. 

indocile, in-dos'il, not in-do'sil. 

inertia, in-er'sbi-a, not in-er'sha. 

inferrible, in-fer'n-bl, wo^ in-fer'ri-bl. 

inquiry, in-kwfri, not in'kwi-ri. 

in statu quo, in sta'tu kwo, not in stat'oo kwo. 

instinct, («f^*-)) in-stingkt', not in'stingkt. 

interlocutor, in-ter-lok'u-tur, not in-ter-lo-ku'tur. 

internecine, in-ter-ne'sln, not in-ter-ne'sin. 

inure, in-yoor, not in-obr'. 

irate, i-rat', not i'rat. 

iron, I'nrn, not frun. 

irrefragable, ir-ref ra-ga-bl, not ir-re-fra'ga-bl. 

irrevocable, ir-rev'o-ka-bl, not ir-re-vo'ka-bl. 

isolate, iz'o-lat or is'o-lat, not I'so-lat. 

isosceles, I-sos'se-lez, not 1-sos'lez. 

isothermal, I-so-tberm'al, not is'o-tberrn-al. 

Italian; i-tal'yan, not T-tal'yan. 

italic, i-tal'ik, not l-tal'ik. 



124 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 

J. 

jaundice, jiin'dis, not jawn'di8. 
jocose, jo-kos', not jok-os' nor jo-koz'. 
jowl, jol, not jowl. 
jugular, ju'gu-lar, not jug'u-lar. 

L. 
lang-syne, lang-sin', not lang-zm'. 
larum, Ur'um, not lar'um. 
larynx, lar'inks, not lar'inks nor la'rinks. 
latent, la'tent, not iS-t'ent. 
lath, lath, not lath. 
lathe, la^A;, not la^A. 
laugh, laf, not laf. 
laundry, lan'dri, not lawn'dri. 
lethargic, le-thar'jik, not leth'ar-jik. 
literati, lit-er-a'tl, not lit-er-a ti. 
lord, lord, not lawurd. 

M. 
maelstrom, mal' strum, not mal'strom. 
mamma, mam-ma', not mam'ma. 
manes, ma'nez, not maiiz. 
maniacal, ma-ni'a-kal, not ma'ni-ak-al. 
Mansard-roof, man'sard-roof, not man-sard'-rdof. 
matron, ma'tron, not mat'ron. 
mattress, mat'tres, not ma'tras. 
mausoleum, maw-so-le'um, not maw-so'le-um. 
mezzotint, med'zo-tint or met'zo-tint. 
molecular, mo-lek'u-lar, not mo'le-ku-lar. 
molecule, mol'e-kul, not morkul nor mo'le-kul. 
moss, moss, 710^ maws. 
mustache, mus-tash', not mus'tash nor mus-tash'. 



LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 125 

jsr. 

naiye, na'ev. not nav. 
nape, nap, not nap. 

o. 

OCtogeiiarj^, ok-loj'e-na-rl' or ok'to-je-iia-ri'. 

Odyssey, od'is-se, not 0-dis'i. 

offal, offal, not aw'fl. 

orailg-outailg, o-rang'-oo-tang', not o'raiig-ow'-tang. 

Orion, o-ri'un, not o'ri-un, 

orison, or'i-zun, not or'i-sun. 

oxide, oks'id, not oks'id. 

P. 

palaver, pa-lii'ver, not pa-lav'er, 

Palestine, pal'es-tm, not pares-lin. 

papa, pa-pa , not pa pa. 

paraffine, par'a-fin or par'af-fm, not par'af-fen. 

parent, par'ent, not pa rent nor par'ent. 

participle, par'ti-sip-1, not part'sip-1. 

patois, pat'waw, not pat'woi. 

Philistine, fl-lis'tin, not fills- tin. 

pianist, pi-a'nist, not pi-an'ist nxyr pe-an'ist nor pe' 

an-ist. 
plateau, pla-to', not plat-o'. 
plethora, pleth'o-ra, not ple-tho'ra. 
plethoric, ple-thorlk or pleth'o-rik. 
poignant, poin'ant, not poin'yant. 
precedence, pre-sed'ence, not pres'-e-dence. 
predecessor, pred-e-ses'sur, not pre'de-ses-sur nor 

pred'e-ses-sur. 
presbytery, prez'bl-ter-i, not pres-bit'cr-L 
probity, prob'i-tT, not pro'bi-ti. 
process, pros'esj not pro'ses. 



126 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 

project, (nou7i), proj'ekt, not pro'jckt. 
provost, prov'iist or pro-vo'. 
pyramidal, pi-ram'i-da], 7iot pir'a-mid-al. 
pyrites, pl-ri'tez, 7iot pir'i-tez. 

quadrupedal, kwad-roo'po-dal or kwad-roo-pe'dal. 

E. 
rapine, rap'in, not ra'pon. 
rationale, rash-i-o-na'le or ra-shi-o-na'lc. 
Kecliabite, re'kab-It, not re'kab-it. 
recitative, res-i-ta-tev, not re-slt'a-tiv. 
recognizance, re-kog'ni-zance or re-kon'i-zaiice. 
reconnoissance, rc-koD'nis-sance, not rc-kon-ioia' 

sance. 
refutable, re-fut'a-bl, 7iot ref u-ta-bl. 
respit(*d, res'pit-ed, not re-spTt'ed. 
retributive, re-trib'u-tiv, not ret'ri-bu-tiv nor rct-rl 

bii'liv. 
reveille, re-val'ya or re-val'. 
rhomb, romb, not rom. 

S. 
sacerdotal, sas-er-do'tal, not sa-ser-do'tal. 
sacrilege, sak'ri-lej, not sa'kri-lij. 
sagacious, sa-ga'shus, not sa-gash'us. 
salve, ssav, not sav. 

Samaritan, sa-mar'i-tan, not sa-ma'ri-tan. 
scabious, ska'bl-us, not skab'i-us. 
scaramouch, skar'a-moAvch. not skar'a-niooch. 
schism, sizm, 7iot siz'iim. 
scorbutic, skor-bu'tik, not skor-but'ik. 
scrofula, skrof n-la, not skrawf'u-la. 



LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 127 

secretory, se-krct'o-ri or sc'krc-to-rT. 

seine, hcd, not san. 

senile, se'nll, not sc'nil. 

sequestration, sck-wes-tra'shim, not se'kwes-tra'- 

slmn. 
series, se'rl-ez or sc'rez. 
servile, ser'vil, not yer'vll. 
slia'n't, {shall not'), shiint, not f>hant. 
shew, sho, not shu. 
sibyl, sib'il, not si'bil. 
sinecure, si'ne-kur, not sin'e-kur. 
sinew, sin'u, not siii'oo. 
sirup, sir'iip, colloquially, snr'rup. 
slabber, slab'ber colloquially, slob'ber. 
sleek, slek, not slik. 
soft, soft, not sawft. 
splenetic, splen'e-tik, not sple-net'ik. 
stanch, stanch, not stanch nor stawnch. 
statics, stat'iks, not sta'tiks. 
statu quo [I^-]j sta'ta kwo, not stat'yoo kwo. 
strychnine, strik'nin, not strik'nin. 
subsidence, sub-sld'ence, not sub'si-dence. 
sulphuric, sul-fu'rik, not sulTur-ik. 
superficies, su-per-fish'i-ez or su-per-fish'ez. 
supple, sup'l, not soo'pl. 
surveillance, sur-val'yance, not soor-val-yauce'. 

T. 

talcose, tal-kos', not tal'kos nor tal-koz'. 

tapestry, tap'es-tri, not taps'tri. 

tapis, ta pis or ta-pe'. 

tartaric, tar-tar'ik, not tar-tar'ik. 

telegraphist, te-leg'ra-fist, not tere-graf-ist. 



128 LESSONS IN ELOCUTION. 

three-legged, thre-legd', Qwt thre-leg'ged. 
thyme, tlm, not thim. 
tiny, ti'ni, not te'ni nor tin-i. 
tongs, tongz, 7iot tawngz. 
tonsure, ton'shur, not ton'soor. 
transition, tran-sizh'un, not trans-ish'ui]. 
transparent, trans-par'ent, not trans-pa'rcnt. 
troche, tro'ke, not trok nor tro'che. 
truculent, trob'ku-lent, not triik'u-lent. 
turhine, tur'bin, not tur'bin. 
turquoise, tur-koiz or tur-kez'. 
tyrannic, tl-ran'nik, not ti-ran'nik. 

U. 

unguent, ung'gwent, not un'gwent. 

Y. 
valuable, val'u-a-bl, not varyu-bl. 
verdigris, ver'di-gres, not ver'di-gTis. 
vicar, vik'ar, not vi'kar. 
vindicative, vin'di-ka-tiv, not vin-dik'a-tiv. 
violoncello, ve-o-lon-cherio or ve-o-lon-sello. 
viscount, vl'kownt, not vis'kownt. 
vitriol, vit'ri-ul, not vit'rul. 

W. 

wan, w^n, not wan. 
withe, with, not with. 
won't, wont 7iot wunt. 
wrath, rath or rawth. 
wrong, rong, not rawDg. 

Z. 
zouave, zob-av' or zwiiv, not z6b-av'. 



